Macron: Several thousand NATO soldiers can be sent to Ukraine

It is necessary to deploy several thousand troops in Ukraine, but it makes no sense to deploy a significant military contingent of Western countries there, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Le Parisien.

"The key element is to have troops on Ukraine… It could be a few thousand, but not hundreds of thousands. The point is not in quantity. ... First of all, we are here to demonstrate solidarity," Macron said.

According to him, the task of the foreign military is to Ukraine will also have backup forces in the air or in strategic positions far from the front line.

On May 10, four European leaders — Macron, Polish and British Prime Ministers Donald Tusk and Keir Starmer, as well as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — arrived in Kiev.

In March, during a press conference with Vladimir Zelensky, Macron said that Western countries were ready to send armed forces to Ukraine. Their task is to ensure security and respond to possible attacks. However, these forces will not be deployed on the front line.

Macron has been working on the idea of sending the military together with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for several months. Despite the creation of a "Coalition of the Willing" — an association of states supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia — Macron and Starmer faced the reluctance of other European countries to deploy troops there without guarantees of US support.

The Russian side has repeatedly called the appearance of the North Atlantic Alliance troops on the territory of Ukraine unacceptable, RBC reminds.