France has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine in the near future.

According to Ria Novosti, in an interview with the Novinky news portal and the Czech newspaper Pravo before his visit to Prague, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France does not intend to send troops to Ukraine in the near future, but is considering possible options to support the country.

"I have said that nothing should be ruled out. This does not mean that we are considering the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine in the near future. But we are opening the debate and thinking about everything that can be done to support Kiev, first of all on Ukrainian territory," President Macron said.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet also confirmed that there would be no military deployment to the "post-Soviet republic". Speaking on France Inter radio on March 1, he stressed that "the French will not sacrifice themselves for Ukraine".

However, on the same day, Le Monde newspaper quoted a source saying that Paris was considering the possibility of allowing special forces and other military units to cross the Ukrainian border to pose a "strategic dilemma" for Russia.

Le Monde explained that the presence of French troops could "protect certain territories and limit an attack from Russia".

After a meeting of about 20 European leaders in Paris on February 26, President Macron surprised Western allies by declaring that the parties "had open and frank discussions" and "did not rule out the possibility of the West sending troops to Ukraine."

The idea of ​​sending troops to Ukraine is taboo, especially as NATO seeks to avoid being drawn into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia.