UK says its forces won’t ‘fight side by side’ with Ukrainians against Russia

The comment came after French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not rule out an eventual presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, as the conflict between Kiev and Moscow continues.

The French leader initially floated the idea in late February and later doubled down, describing Russia as an “adversary.” He denied that Paris was “waging a war” against Moscow, however.

Following Macron’s statements, Le Monde reported that France had been contemplating the idea of deploying troops since at least June 2023.

The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, said on Tuesday that Paris is preparing to send around 2,000 soldiers to Ukraine.

London has no such plans, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office told TASS news agency on Wednesday. British soldiers will not “fight side by side” with Ukrainians, the official stated, adding that the government has ruled out a “full-blown military deployment.”

The UK government told reporters last month that it would not send additional troops “beyond the small number of personnel we do have in the country supporting the armed forces of Ukraine.”

Commenting on a potential NATO deployment to Ukraine earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that this would be “one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”

NATO member states have also said they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine. The US-led bloc has maintained that it does not wish to become a party to the conflict, but will continue to support Kiev with arms and money for “as long as it takes.”

Russia has warned that the delivery of Western weapons already makes NATO countries de facto participants in the conflict and risks further escalation. Putin said last month that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO members, unless it is attacked first.