US,Germany say they’re not sending troops to Ukraine as the Kremlin warns

Ryder added that international efforts are coming in order to ensure that Ukraine receives aid "as quickly as possible" to meet their most urgent needs.

US National Security spokesperson John Kirby also confirmed on Tuesday that there won't be US troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Kirby's comments came after being asked about what French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday (February 26) that France could not rule out sending troops on the ground to Ukraine and that he would maintain a strategic ambiguity on the subject. 

France's foreign minister Stephane Sejourne later sought to clarify Macron's comments saying Paris could send troops to Ukraine for specific needs, but not to fight in the war against Russia.

"We must consider new actions to support Ukraine. These must respond to very specific needs, I am thinking in particular of mine clearance, the production of weapons on site, on Ukrainian territory," Sejourne told lawmakers on Tuesday.

"Some of these actions could require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting. Nothing should be ruled out. This was and still is the position today of the president of the Republic."

While Macron did not rule out European nations sending troops to Ukraine, but cautioned that there was no consensus at this stage as allies agreed to try harder to get munitions to Kyiv faster.

French diplomats said Macron's idea was to stoke debate on the issue, but there were no concrete plans in that direction.

That has provoked a string of responses from allies saying they had no intention of sending troops to Ukraine.

Kirby also denied the US could have non-combat participation in the war. Kirby said the only US military personnel currently on the ground are part of the defence attaché office of the embassy and are "doing important work in terms of helping us with the accountability of weapons and systems that are provided 
to Ukraine."

Prime ministers of four Central European Nato members, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia also said they had no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine on Tuesday after France hinted at the possibility, and the Kremlin warned that any such move would inevitably lead to conflict between Russia and Nato.

Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who returned to office last year, have also previously said they would not send weapons to Ukraine, while Poland and the Czech Republic have been among Kyiv's strongest military backers.

But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier during a press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala there should not be speculation about possible future circumstances that could change their stance of not deploying troops to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also appeared to have a different view of what happened in Paris. He said the participants had agreed “that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil who are sent there by European states or Nato states.”

Scholz said there was also consensus “that soldiers operating in our countries also are not participating actively in the war themselves.”

The idea of sending troops has been taboo, particularly as Nato seeks to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Nothing prevents Nato members from joining such an undertaking individually or in groups, but the organization itself would only get involved if all 31 members agreed.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said “Nato allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. We have done that since 2014 and stepped up after the full-scale invasion. But there are no plans for Nato combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

Nato as an alliance provides Ukraine only non-lethal aid and support like medical supplies, uniforms and winter equipment, but some members send weapons and ammunition of their own accord, bilaterally or in groups.

A decision to send troops and keep them deployed long-term would require the kind of transport and logistics capabilities that only countries like the US, UK, France, Germany and possibly Italy, Poland or Spain could muster.

While ruling out Nato military action, Stoltenberg said “that this is a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine, blatantly violating international law. According to international law, Ukraine of course has the right to self-defense, and we have the right to support them in upholding that right.”

The conference in Paris was held just after France, Germany and the UK each signed 10-year bilateral security agreements with Ukraine as its government works to shore up Western support.

European nations are worried the US will reduce its support, as aid for Ukraine is held up in Congress. They also have concerns that former President Donald Trump might return to the White House and change the course of US policy on the continent.

Several European countries, including France, expressed support Monday for an initiative launched by the Czech Republic to buy ammunition shells for Ukraine outside the European Union, participants at the meeting said. Macron said a new coalition will be launched to deliver medium- and long-range missiles.

In an interview last week, Stoltenberg did not oppose the idea of allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets in Russia. Some countries have placed restrictions on the use of materiel they provide, asking that it be used only inside Ukraine.

“It’s for each and every ally to decide whether there are some caveats on what they deliver,” Stoltenberg told Radio Free Europe. But, he said, Ukraine’s right to self-defence “includes also striking legitimate military targets, Russian military targets, outside Ukraine.”