Paris:
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday opened the door to European countries sending troops to Ukraine, although he warned there was no consensus at this stage as allies agreed to step up efforts to supply more ammunition to Kiev.
About two dozen European leaders met in Paris on Monday to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and to counter the Kremlin's narrative that Russia will win a war in its third year.
“There is no consensus at this stage to send troops to the ground,” Macron told reporters. “Nothing should be ruled out. We will do everything we have to do so that Russia does not win.”
Macron invited his European counterparts to the Elyse Palace for a hastily arranged meeting to discuss how to increase ammunition deliveries to Ukraine amid what his advisers say is an escalation of Russian aggression in recent weeks.
After initial successes in pushing back the Russian army, Ukraine has suffered setbacks on its eastern battlefields, with generals complaining of a shortage of weapons and soldiers.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has opposed military aid to Ukraine, said several NATO and EU members are considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis.
“I can confirm that there are countries that are ready to send their own troops to Ukraine, that there are countries that say: never, to which Slovakia belongs, and that there are countries that say that this proposal should be taken into consideration,” he said. him before boarding his plane. At home.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the frontrunner to become NATO's next secretary general, told reporters that the issue of sending troops was not the focus of Monday's talks.
Addressing leaders via video link, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy backed Macron's warning about an escalation of the conflict: “We must ensure that Putin cannot destroy our achievements and expand his aggression to other countries.”
“Many people who say 'Never, never' today were the same people who two years ago said 'never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles,'” Macron said.
“Let us have the humility to note that we are often six to twelve months late. This was the purpose of tonight's discussion: everything is possible if it is useful to achieve our goal,” he said, adding that Europe should not depend on the United States to fight in Ukraine.
MORE AMMUNITION
Progress was made on a Czech Republic-led initiative to buy hundreds of thousands of ammunition from third countries, something France has been cautious about as it wants to prioritize developing Europe's own industry.
Ammunition supplies have become a critical issue for Kiev. However, the European Union is falling short of its target of sending Ukraine one million artillery shells by March.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said about 15 countries had agreed to his initiative. Macron said Paris would do the same and that a coalition had also been agreed to speed up the delivery of long-range missiles.
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition that we should and could get in a relatively short period of time,” Fiala told reporters.
Defense ministers had been tasked to come up with a plan within the next 10 days, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.
Rutte said the Netherlands would contribute 100 million euros for the purchase of ammunition abroad. He said the countries that would supply the ammunition had asked not to be identified.
“I think there was a great sense of urgency, especially for the short term in the field of ammunition and air defense,” Rutte said. “I hope other countries will follow.”
Those in attendance included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and leaders from the Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
The United States, which is under intense scrutiny now that its latest military aid package for Ukraine has stalled in Congress, was represented by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O'Brien.
French officials said Macron, who is due to be in Kiev in March, was keen to find solutions after a security conference in Munich this month failed to make progress.
“We are neither gloomy nor gloomy,” the French adviser said. “We want Russia to understand that. Russia will have to count on all of us collectively to end this war.”
French officials said Russia has shown renewed aggression in recent weeks, including Putin's flight with a nuclear-capable bomber, in what they see as an attempt to intimidate Europeans at a time when US support is being called into question by the presidential election .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)