Not content with its escalatory measure of allowing Kyiv to fire UK-supplied missiles at targets inside Russia, London—as well as Paris—is now refusing to rule out sending troops to Ukraine.
New talks over sending British and French troops began when UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Paris for the November 11th commemorations, according to a report in Le Monde. The paper quoted an unnamed British military source, who said:
Discussions are underway between the UK and France on defense cooperation, particularly with a view to creating a hard core of allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and wider European security.
Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, also last week told the BBC there are no “red lines” when it comes to support for Ukraine. Asked directly if this meant troops could be sent into combat, Barrot confirmed:
We do not discard any option.
There has since been some backtracking, with newspapers in Britain today (November 26th) leading on the line that the UK is not sending troops to Ukraine. That’s because foreign secretary David Lammy said “we are not committing UK troops to the theatre of action”—not “at this time,” anyway.
Florian Philippot, president of France’s Les Patriotes movement, insisted that “no Frenchman, no soldier” can accept being deployed to Ukraine, “because it is the guarantee of the third nuclear world war!”
The National Pulse managing editor Jack Montgomery wrote also joked that because “Britain has slashed its army to ribbons with cutbacks, if it sent its entire infrantry [sic] … they would struggle to garrison even one frontline town in Ukraine.”
Responding to reports that the UK and France are discussing sending troops and private defense companies to Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said “there is no unanimity of opinion among Europeans on this matter but, of course, some hotheads appear.”
