Starting late last year as the Biden administration was still setting the tone of the West's Ukraine policy, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot issued statements suggesting that a plan to send NATO troops to Ukraine was being mulled by Western allies as a legitimate 'option'.
For example, the top French diplomat said in November, "We will support Ukraine as intensely and as long as necessary. Why? Because it is our security that is at stake. Each time the Russian army progresses by one square kilometer, the threat gets one square kilometer closer to Europe."
BBC interviewer Laura Kuenssberg had questioned Barrot on whether that could mean sending French troops into the war. He responded: "We do not discard any option."
Without doubt, French Foreign Legion troops and Western mercenaries are already there, and the Kremlin has over the last year said that French forces were killed and wounded in various attacks. This has long been an 'open secret' of the proxy conflict.
Kremlin officials have in the last days complained about ongoing rumors speculating that Russia is ready to allow Western peacekeeping troops into Ukraine. This is happening as the White House has newly confirmed that it is in communication with Putin's officials about setting up peace or ceasefire negotiations, which could materialize soon.
On Monday Moscow’s ambassador to the UN rejected that this is a serious option. Amb. Vassily Nebenzia said in an interview with RIA Novosti that such a plan would have to have approval of the United Nations Security council, of which Russia is a permanent member.
"’Peacekeepers’ cannot operate without a mandate from the UN Security Council. Otherwise, any foreign military contingents sent into the combat zone will be regarded as ordinary combatants under international law and a legitimate military target for our armed forces," the envoy said.
Of course, Russia can provide a lone veto halting any proposal to send foreign troops to Ukraine, which it would most certainly do. Peace plans recently floated by the West have included a delay on future admission of Ukraine into NATO and the deployment of a peacekeeping force.
However, President Putin has consistently said that Russia will stay firm in rejecting any 'timeline' of NATO membership, whether 20 years or more. He's described that this would only push off an inevitable war. This issue has remained a non-starter and Moscow is unlikely to enter negotiations until NATO membership is completely off the table.
It's as yet unclear on where Trump stands on the issue - though he's recently expressed that he understands Moscow's anger over this. This suggests Trump is indeed open to taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table. As for future peacekeeping troops, this has also been reported to be part of Trump's plan for ending the war.
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