French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné has explained that Western troops would not take part in hostilities if they were to depart for Ukraine, as Emmanuel Macron previously suggested.

As reported by Reuters, the French foreign minister stated during a debate in parliament that Paris must consider further actions that would help Ukraine.

"We must consider new actions to support Ukraine. These must respond to very specific needs, I am thinking in particular of mine clearance, cyber defence, the production of weapons on site, on Ukrainian territory. Some of its actions could require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting.

Nothing should be ruled out. This was and still is the position today of the president of the Republic," Séjourné said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after a meeting in Paris on Monday that he had not ruled out sending Western troops to Ukraine in the future, although he emphasised that there is currently no consensus among the allies.

Following Macron's remarks, Czechia, Poland and Sweden stated that they are not considering sending their troops to Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that the Alliance has no plans to send troops to Ukraine. The EU said that at the European level, member states have agreed only to provide Ukraine with the necessary assistance for as long as it takes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that the presence of NATO troops on the territory of Ukraine would lead to a direct conflict between the Alliance and the Russian Federation, escalating the situation.