Britain and France have not ruled out sending troops to Ukraine as part of a European coalition, French media reported, amid fears the war is getting closer to turning into an all-out conflict between Russia and NATO.
Discussions about sending troops from Western armies and private defense companies have been “reactivated”, according to French newspaper Le Monde, months after President Macron faced opposition from Western leaders to the suggestion.
The talks have also been reviewed amid concerns that President-elect Donald Trump could withdraw US support for kyiv when he takes office on January 20, sources said.
London and Paris could lead a new coalition of kyiv’s European allies, sources said, with the proposal said to have gained traction in recent weeks due to Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to France for Remembrance Day on November 11. .
“Talks are taking place between the UK and France on defense cooperation, particularly with the aim of creating a core of allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and wider European security,” a British military source said. to Le Monde.
Asked about the possibility of French troops on the ground in Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the BBC: “We are not ruling out any option.”
‘We will support Ukraine as intensely and for as long as necessary. Because? Because what is at stake is our safety. “Every time the Russian army advances one square kilometer, the threat moves one square kilometer closer to Europe,” he said.
He also insisted during Saturday’s interview that Western allies “should not establish or express red lines” regarding their support for Ukraine, and indicated that French long-range Scalp missiles could be fired at Russia “in the logic of self-defense”.
Gun Line Section Commander Sergeant Rai uses a radio to talk to archer crews from 19th Regiment Royal Artillery. NATO live-fire drills in Finland called Exercise Dynamic Front
An Archer artillery cannon is fired by troops from the 19th Royal Artillery Regiment, during a live firing range at the Rovajärvi training area.
The proposal is said to have gained traction in recent weeks due to Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to France for Remembrance Day on November 11.
His comments appear to confirm that France has followed the United Kingdom and the United States in giving kyiv the green light to use long-range missiles it has provided in attacks on Russian territory.
As tensions remain high over kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons against Russia, Moscow said on Monday that its air defenses had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine.
“Air defense forces shot down eight ballistic missiles,” Moscow’s Defense Ministry said at a daily news briefing. He did not say what type of ballistic missile Ukraine used or where they were shot down.
Six American-made JDAM guided bombs and 45 drones were also shot down in the last 24 hours, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the Defense Ministry.
Last week, Putin approved an updated version of the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine that expands the scope for Moscow to resort to its fearsome atomic arsenal on the same day that US-made missiles fell on Russian soil.
The document, first announced in September, allows Putin’s strategic forces to deploy their devastating weapons if Russia or Belarus are threatened by a non-nuclear nation supported by a nuclear power.
Ukraine’s attack on a munitions depot in Russia’s Bryansk region with US-supplied ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) was feared to meet these criteria, and Moscow said it marked a “new phase of the Western war “.
In a move that Moscow said was a response to the Biden administration’s change in missile policy, Russia launched an ‘Oreshnik’ intermediate-range missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.
This photo taken on November 25, 2024 shows destroyed cars next to a destroyed building after a missile attack in Odessa.
A view of the damage following the Russian attack on central Kharkiv on November 25. The attack affected already partially destroyed buildings in the city center, some of them in 2022. 19 people were injured, several of whom are in hospital
Vladimir Putin said the new weapon traveled at 10 times the speed of sound, leaving Ukrainian air defenses unable to shoot it down.
Russian sources said the range was 3,100 miles, and Russian defense officials noted this would allow it to strike anywhere in Europe and the west coast of the United States.
Putin has promised to increase production of the weapon after Thursday’s launch.
As the air war in the conflict intensifies, a senior NATO official today warned of Russia’s ground forces.
NATO Military Committee Chairman Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer said Moscow’s ground forces are larger now than when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022.
But “the quality of those forces has declined,” he said, referring to the state of the force’s equipment and the level of training of its soldiers.
This is the moment missiles believed to be British Storm Shadow missiles hit inside Russia
“At the moment, the Russians do not pose the same threat as in February 2022, so we have a little time to prepare,” he said, adding that this means increasing investments in the defense industry.
NATO is expected to hold emergency talks with kyiv on Tuesday to discuss the escalation of the conflict, in which some 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to support Russian forces.
The soldiers sent by Pyongyang are believed to be in Russia’s Kursk region, which is partially occupied by Ukraine, and will be ready to engage in combat inside Ukraine “soon,” according to Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of Defense.
Britain has urged kyiv’s allies to continue supporting its fight against Russia, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy today called on G7 countries to support Ukraine and equip it for as long as necessary.
French soldiers from the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment operate the CAESAR, a French self-propelled howitzer that can fire NATO standard 39/52 caliber, during the Dynamic Front
The Foreign Secretary today said the UK government is imposing the largest package of sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet, which includes 30 vessels.
Ahead of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, he told reporters that Britain was announcing “the largest package of sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet,” referring to a fleet that Britain says uses practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.
“It is enormously important in this G7 that all colleagues… continue to support Ukraine for the duration and we are confident that Ukraine can have the funds and military equipment to see it through to 2025.”