- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed outrage against a plan to send troops to Ukraine, which is backed by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
- Meloni interrupted Macron during an emergency video call, accusing him of speaking on her behalf without a mandate, and other European Union member nations such as Germany, Poland and Spain have also raised objections to the plan.
- Germany has reiterated that it won't send troops to Ukraine unless the United States deploys soldiers first, and Poland has explicitly stated that it won't send its soldiers to the territory of Ukraine.
- Critics argue that sending troops to Ukraine could derail peace efforts and prolong the war with Russia, while Russian officials have warned that foreign military units without UN backing would be treated as "legitimate targets."
- The dispute between Macron and Meloni highlights broader divisions within Europe regarding the appropriate response to the war in Ukraine, with some leaders favoring military intervention and others expressing skepticism about its feasibility and wisdom.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed outrage against a plan to send troops to Ukraine, which has the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Meloni's denouncement of the plan happened during an emergency video call between Western European leaders on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Macron outlined his plan to deploy French and British military "reassurance forces" to Ukraine to "deter Russia from future attacks."
But according to The Telegraph, the Italian leader interrupted her French counterpart and accused him of speaking on her behalf without a mandate. Macron then refuted her claims, reiterating that any decision to deploy European forces in Ukraine would be national decisions. Meloni isn't alone in her sentiments, however, as other European Union member nations such as Germany, Poland and Spain have raised objections to the deployment of armed forces in Ukraine.
According to reports, Berlin won't send troops to Ukraine unless the United States deploys soldiers first. "We will not participate in scenarios in which European and American security diverges, for example if European soldiers are deployed without full U.S. involvement," a German government official told AFP. (Related: Germany and Poland rule out troop deployment to Ukraine.)
Similarly, Warsaw has expressed disagreement over the idea of troops being deployed to Kyiv. "We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Feb. 17. He emphasized that Poland's support for Kyiv would remain limited to humanitarian and military aid.
Macron and Starmer's troop deployment plan: A recipe for prolonging the war?
The opposition by the three countries contrasts with the position of Macron and Starmer, who have signaled their willingness to send troops as part of a post-war security arrangement. According to critics, such a decision could derail peace efforts and prolong the war with Russia.
Starmer announced through an article published Feb. 16 in The Telegraph that Downing Street is ready and willing to put British boots on the ground in Kyiv. But critics also warn that such actions risk escalating tensions with Moscow. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenziya earlier warned that any foreign military units without UN backing would be treated as "legitimate targets."
During the Wednesday emergency call, Macron reportedly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine as "more about business" than strategy. He referenced Trump's proposal to secure a share of Ukraine's rare earth minerals in exchange for past military support. The dispute between Macron and Meloni during the call highlights broader divisions within Europe as leaders scramble to respond to Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal with Russia.
As the war in Ukraine nears a potential resolution, the divergent approaches of European leaders threaten to undermine efforts to achieve lasting peace. While Meloni and other leaders have expressed skepticism about the feasibility and wisdom of deploying troops, Macron and Starmer's push for military intervention risks prolonging the conflict and further straining relations with Russia.
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