NATO allies reject French President Macron's suggestion that sending troops to Ukraine is on the table.

 

A howitzer firing in Ukraine. BBC/Getty.

NATO allies have rejected a call from French President Macron's suggestion that sending troops to Ukraine is on the table. BBC. Macron said that "nothing should be rejected" when it comes to Ukraine, including sending troops to Ukraine. Many NATO leaders rejected the idea with the leadership of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland and Czechia clarifying that they were not considering sending troops. Russia said any such deployment would lead to a direct conflict. 

My Comment:

This was one of the most bizarre and stupid things a world leader has ever said. Sending combat or even support troops to Ukraine would be seen as an act of war and would probably world to a direct conflict between Russia and NATO. The implication would be that there would be a third world war and a direct nuclear exchange. 

It's no wonder that the rest of NATO rejected this suggestion. I would hope that the leadership of NATO is less insane than Macron apparently is. Even the bigger warhawks were saying that this was a terrible idea. It's pretty rare that there is disagreement in NATO at all, let alone at this level.

So was this a serious suggestion from France? I doubt it. Macron was apparently speaking off the cuff and may not have realized the implications of what he was saying. He also said that France wasn't going to be the one to deploy troops, just that other countries might. 

Of course it's an open secret that NATO troops are fighting in Ukraine as "volunteers", aka, mercenaries. Indeed, I have seen more than one video of captured "Ukrainian troops" speaking with American or English accents and we all know that Poland has sent many "volunteers" to the fight in Ukraine. 

Ukraine also hires a lot of more traditional mercenaries, mostly from South and Central America. Those folks are treated much the way Moscow treated the Wagner Group, as disposable cannon fodder. This is, of course, illegal but Russia has largely decided to look the other way. And it's not like the US led international community would punish Ukraine for this. 

But the other foreign troops? I think they are mostly in non-combat roles. Ukraine was given a lot of advanced technology that they really didn't know how to operate. The foreign troops are almost certainly operating and maintaining these weapons, such as air defenses and tanks. There are probably a few troops fighting in front line units but they are the minority. 

Of course neither side would admit to this. To do so would give Russia a valid casus belli to attack NATO and it would be one they could not ignore. Neither side really seems to want an actual war between NATO and Russia, even though they are in a de facto one already. And it's not the first time this has happened, Russia and China sent advisors to Vietnam and Russia even flew jets against US forces in the Korean War. Much like Israel's unofficial stance on nuclear weapons which they clearly have, NATO troops participating in the Ukraine war will remain a polite fiction.