US says not to dispatch troops to Ukraine

President Joe Biden “has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine”, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The only US military personnel in Ukraine were with the American embassy in Kyiv “doing important work” on the accountability of weapons provided to Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby denied that US troops could be sent for demining, arms production or cyber operations, as French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne had suggested Western troops could be.

He added that it would be a “sovereign decision” for France or any other NATO country whether to send troops to Ukraine.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, asked whether the United States could send troops for other purposes such as training, stated 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 reporters.

Both the White House and State Department stressed 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 stated.

Several European states have announced they had no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine, after France hinted at the possibility, and the Kremlin warned that any such move would inevitably lead to conflict between Russia and NATO.

NATO’s secretary-general has also stressed there are no plans to send troops to Ukraine.