The UK and France have “reactivated” talks on sending troops to Ukraine, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday. The idea has already caused a rift among European NATO members.
Back in February, French President Emmanuel Macron caused controversy by declaring his willingness to send ground troops to Ukraine “to prevent Russia from winning this war.” The statement was quickly disavowed by NATO officials, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Ukraine’s Western backers were “unanimous” in their opposition to the idea.
The plan was seemingly shelved, Le Monde has reported, until British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Paris earlier this month. Citing anonymous sources, the French newspaper claimed that talks on a possible Franco-British deployment to Ukraine were “reactivated” by Starmer and Macron.
No further information was provided, and Le Monde speculated that this deployment could range from both nations sending private-sector technicians to repair military equipment (as Britain already does), to private military contractors (as Russia insists that France does), to flag-wearing personnel on the ground, either on the front line or to enforce an eventual ceasefire and peace deal.
No. I have seen estimates that it would take at least 10 years of concerted effort to ramp up US production to that scale.