President Emmanuel Macron of France on Monday said “nothing should be ruled out” after he was asked about the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine in support of the embattled nation’s war against Russia.
Mr. Macron, speaking after a meeting of European leaders in Paris to bolster support for Ukraine, stressed that the talks had not resulted in any consensus on putting troops on the ground “in an official, approved and endorsed way.”
But he insisted that “anything is possible if it is useful to reach our goal,” which he said was to ensure that “Russia cannot win this war.”
Neither the United States — which was represented at the meeting by its top diplomat for Europe, James O’Brien — nor other European leaders immediately reacted publicly to Mr. Macron’s comments. His statements were a stark departure from the usual caution that Western leaders — including Mr. Macron himself — have exercised. They have repeatedly said that they want to avoid escalating the conflict and previously ruled out sending any ground troops to Ukraine.
Ahead of the conference, Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia warned on Monday that some Western countries were considering sending soldiers to Ukraine, adding that he opposed the idea. And Petr Fiala, the Czech prime minister, also disavowed this option ahead of the meeting, according to news reports.
Mr. Macron did not explicitly say which countries supported or rejected such an option, or whether France itself would consider sending troops to Ukraine, saying that he favored a “strategic ambiguity” on the issue.
