UK: We’re not sending troops into Ukraine ‘at this time’

LONDON — Britain’s foreign secretary said his country is not considering sending troops into Ukraine “at this time,” after his French counterpart urged Western allies not to set “red lines” in the conflict and the Kremlin warned against “hotheaded” escalation.

Le Monde reported Monday that Britain and France had “revived” discussions about the idea following a visit to France by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

But, speaking to newspapers La Repubblica, Le Monde and Die Welt at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy, David Lammy said the U.K. would preserve its “long-standing commitment” to keep troops out of “the theater of action.”

“We are very clear that we stand ready and continue to support the Ukrainians with training particularly, but there has been a long-standing position that we are not committing U.K. troops to the theater of action,” Britain’s top diplomat said.

“That is certainly the U.K. position, and remains the U.K. position at this time.”

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the BBC this weekend that he could not rule out sending troops to fight in Ukraine if necessary, reiterating previous comments by French President Emmanuel Macron made earlier this year. “We do not discard any option,” he said.

Macron stood firm in the face of a barrage of criticism back in February when he refused to rule out sending French troops into Ukraine. But he was given short shrift by opposition parties and other NATO members, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, at the time.

No. 10 Downing Street on Monday downplayed the idea once again, with Starmer’s spokesperson telling reporters when pressed on the Le Monde article Monday: “[There are] no plans for troops in that manner.”

Asked if the U.K. could rule out sending troops to Ukraine, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “Yes, beyond what I’ve said previously about providing medical training and the military presence we have around the embassy we don’t have plans for U.K. troops to be in combat alongside Ukrainian troops.”

He said he was unaware of a Starmer and Macron discussion about sending troops into the country.

The report triggered some pushback from the Russian government. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said the idea floated in the Le Monde story was “not in line with reality” and pointed out that it faced opposition from European capitals.

“There is no unanimity of opinion among Europeans on this matter but, of course, some hotheads appear,” he said, according to The Telegraph.