According to Russia Today TV on March 4, former U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Dald wrote in the American "Politico" published on the 4th that France had proposed the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine to assist the Ukrainian military in completing key tasks.
Dard said the proposal was made a few weeks ago by Thierry Burkhard, the chief of the French Defence Staff. Burkhard sent a letter to a number of colleagues in NATO countries, asking them to "discuss" the possibility of deploying "a volunteer coalition army" to the front line in Ukraine. Burkhard said the force could deploy defense systems on the ground, train troops, launch cyber operations and help with demining.
Dard writes that Burkhard's proposal was quickly rejected by "allies" because of NATO's long-standing policy of "not sending ground troops to Ukraine."
Last week, France's Macron told reporters that the idea of deploying NATO troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out, causing controversy, the report said. Allegedly, Burkhard's letter had been sent long before that.
In the article, Dard called Macron's remarks about the deployment of troops to Ukraine "yet another attention-grabbing statement" and an attempt to score geopolitical points. Dard said Macron's remarks came after Burkhard's suggestion, a fact that "may indicate that he is thinking more seriously about efforts to help Ukraine within NATO." (Compiled by Wu Mei).