The US is one of few NATO partners that refuses to commit soldiers to the conflict in Ukraine
On Tuesday, February 27, the White House said that US forces will not be going to combat in Ukraine. Countries like Germany, Britain, Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic have already disassociated themselves from any notion that they would send foot forces to fight the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Following French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to rule out the deployment of Western military, the White House made these remarks.
According to a statement from Adrienne Watson, the National Security Council spokesman, “President Biden has made it clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine.”
“So Ukrainian troops have the weapons and ammunition they need to defend themselves” against Russian invasion, Watson said, is Biden’s “path to victory” in Congress passing military assistance that has been blocked.
When questioned about the same, Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, restated Watson’s remarks. Furthermore, he said that the “president’s been very clear”.
In the most recent development, the State Department and the White House said that Congress’s approval of further military assistance to Ukraine was the top priority.
“Fundamentally, we think that the path to victory for Ukraine right now is in the United States House of Representatives,” Miller said.
Leader of a razor-thin Republican majority in the House and a fan of former President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, has blocked a vote on Biden’s request for almost $60 billion for Ukraine.
A top Ukrainian official responded to Macron’s position on Tuesday, telling AFP that the French president sent a positive signal by leaving open the possibility of placing Western forces in Ukraine.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said, “Macron is now demonstrating a deep understanding of the risks posed to Europe by the war in Ukraine.”
Even if there has just been “discussion” about sending soldiers to Ukraine, he told AFP that “the French president’s statement clearly takes the discussion to another level” and that “this is a good sign.”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has issued a warning that if NATO sends soldiers into the conflict—a significant move that the West has so far avoided—confrontation with the alliance would inevitably result.
