WASHINGTON, United States: The White House announced Tuesday that the United States will not send troops to Ukraine to fight after French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out sending Western troops.
National Security Council spokesman Adrian Watson said in a statement that President Joe Biden “has made it clear that the United States will not send troops to war in Ukraine.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the only U.S. military personnel in Ukraine are at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, where they are doing “important work” regarding the responsibility for weapons provided to Ukraine.
Mr Kirby raised the possibility of US troops being sent for demining, weapons production and cyber operations, as French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourn suggested Western forces could be sent there.
He added that whether to send troops to Ukraine would be a “sovereign decision” for France and other NATO members.
Asked whether the United States could send troops for other purposes, such as training, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration opposed any deployment to Ukraine.
“We’re not sending boots on the ground in Ukraine. The president’s been very clear,” Miller told the media.
Both the White House and State Department have hinted that the priority was for Congress to approve new military aid to Ukraine.
“Fundamentally, we think that the path to victory for Ukraine right now is in the United States House of Representatives,” Miller added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, an ally of former president Donald Trump and head of a razor-thin Republican majority, has refused to allow a vote on president Biden’s request for about $60bn for Ukraine.
