It was supranormal and sensational, hardly believable but true: French President Emmanuel Macron was the first leader of Western nations who said sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine (against Russia) "couldn't be ruled out." And afterward, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico mentioned that "a number of NATO and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis." Denials came very quickly from both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg. But the cat was already out of the bag.
| Ukrainian soldiers encounter Russian forces in Kiev on February 26, 2022. Photo: AFP/VNA |
Both Emmanuel Macron and Robert Fico didn't certainly pick this thing out of the air. There must be inside the NATO and EU separate and common calculations and planning for sending their troops to Ukraine to shoulder Ukraine's fighting against Russia, that could mean NATO troops or troops from NATO members directly versus Russian troops in Ukraine - for the first time since ever. That would also mean that Ukraine is the battlefield not only between Russia and Ukraine but also between Russia and NATO or between Russia and some NATO members. The war in Ukraine would become of another scale and have quite a different nature. Russia was not false when having said that NATO’s sending troops to Ukraine means a declaration of war against Russia.
As a result, what Emmanuel Macron and Robert Fico have mentioned referring to the possibility – and possible scenario – of sending NATO troops to fight against Russia in Ukraine was indicating a new and, for the whole European continent, very dangerous development relating to the war in Ukraine.
Sending their troops to fight in Ukraine will be NATO's and their members' "last resort", i.e. their last way and means they hope to defeat Russia. It would be very dangerous and catastrophic for Europe because the war wouldn't be restricted to Ukrainian territories anymore and would expand to NATO members in Europe. A European war would be inevitable - for the first time since World War II in the last century.
For NATO and some of its members, sending their troops to Ukraine would be a political and military adventure that could destroy this military alliance or at least ruin its future if it, together with Ukraine, couldn't defeat Russia both militarily and politically. And there isn't now any guarantee that Ukraine and NATO's troops could and would win the war against Russia.
Therefore, France and NATO, or any single NATO member, must have to think at least twice before deciding to send troops to Ukraine. Anyways, that they publicly mentioned this scenario showed that they just now are very concerned and not optimistic about the perspective for Ukraine to win the war with Russia in Ukraine. And they have just thought out loud.
Disclaimer: The reflections expressed by Ambassador Tran Duc Mau are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Hanoi Times.
