1 of 2 | White House National Security Advisor John Kirby re-iterated the United States' strictly non-interventionist position in response to a row sparked by calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for the West to consider sending troops into Ukraine. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |
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Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The United States, Britain and Germany joined at least five other NATO countries in rebuffing French President Emmanuel Macron's call for the West to consider sending troops to fight in Ukraine.
U.S. National Security Coordinator John Kirby told a press briefing in the White House on Tuesday that while the resolve to deploy troops on the ground was a "sovereign decision" for each NATO member to determine, the Biden administration's position remained one of strictly no-intervention.
"President Biden has been crystal clear since the beginning of this conflict: There will be no U.S. troops on the ground in a combat role there in Ukraine," said Kirby.
He also ruled out suggestions by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna that Western troops could be deployed to Ukraine to clear mines, help with weapons production or in cyber defense roles.
Kirby said the United States would not go beyond the small number of U.S. military personnel attached to its Kyiv embassy as part of the defense attache office ensuring the accountability of weapons and systems being provided to Ukraine.
"There's not going to be U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine," he said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the country had no plans to deploy forces to Ukraine above a small existing number of officers training Ukrainian troops, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the consensus that no European or NATO country would send forces to Ukraine remained unchanged.
A pledge by Macron on Monday to do whatever it took to prevent Russia from winning the war, including sending troops to help Ukraine, sparked a furious response from Moscow with the Kremlin saying such a move would trigger direct military confrontation between Russia and NATO.
"In this case, we need to talk not about the likelihood, but about the inevitability of a conflict. That's how we evaluate it," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"These countries must also evaluate and be aware of this, asking themselves whether this corresponds to their interests, as well as the interests of the citizens of their countries," he added.
The row, following comments by Macron at the end of an international "Ukraine Support Conference" in Paris on Monday, erupted after the Czech Republic and Slovakia said they would not deploy forces to Ukraine under any circumstances.
The dissenting views from Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico earlier add to a growing list of NATO member states that have also ruled out the possibility of boots on the ground in Ukraine, including Hungary, Poland and NATO-member-designate Sweden.
