Russia’s war in Ukraine and news after Navalny’s death, live
French president plans to send Western troops to Ukraine, but not all leaders agree
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, warned this Monday that proposals by Western states to send troops to Ukraine, “even if at the bilateral level,” would lead to a “significant increase in tension.”
After European leaders met in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that sending Western troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out.”
But he said there was “no agreement officially reached this afternoon to send troops on the ground.”
In a post made after the meeting, Fico said he found the “purely warlike atmosphere” in the meeting supporting the war “disappointing”, and that his government would “never agree to send Slovak troops to war in Ukraine.” Will not agree.”
CNN has contacted FICO’s office for further comment.
Meanwhile, the head of Germany’s Green Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, Omid Nouripour, also sought to allay fears about sending troops to Ukraine, saying: “I saw a humorous Macron who just wanted to say :I don’t want to dismiss anything.”
Nuipour said that the idea of sending German troops is not a matter of debate: “It is not a problem at all. It is not a problem under discussion in Germany and not even in the coalition.”
That sentiment was shared by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who said the country was not ready to send weapons or troops to Ukraine.
“Wars must end, not deepen or expand,” he said in a Facebook post.
CNN’s Chris Stern and Stephanie Halasz in Berlin contributed to this report.