Ukraine signals need for military instructors, not allied soldiers

“We have our own armed forces and defense, and we have enough troops,” the official pointed out.

“We propose that European partners send military instructors to Ukraine to speed up this training process, as this will facilitate logistics and communications,” the Ukrainian Prime Minister added.

“No European country is ready to send soldiers to the battlefield, because that would mean engaging in a war, and we are all absolutely clear that this is impossible at this point,” he stressed.

He also pointed out that Kiev is asking its allies to send long- and medium-range missiles. “We have given guarantees that we will not use these missiles to attack Russian territory,” the politician said.

Earlier, on February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron announced at a meeting in Paris, where representatives of about 20 Western countries discussed further support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, that the possibility of sending infantry to Ukraine had been raised.

According to the French leader, the participants have not yet reached a consensus on this issue, but such a scenario cannot be ruled out in the future. He later clarified his statement, explaining that "not ruling something out does not mean doing it."

After the conference, representatives of most of the participating countries stated that they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine and oppose their participation in combat operations against Russia.

On March 19, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, said that France was preparing to send a contingent of troops to Ukraine, initially up to 2,000 soldiers. Later, the French Armed Forces issued a statement on social network X that what Naryshkin said did not correspond to reality.