MARIENBORG (Dagbladet): – Macron’s actions do not reflect the attitude of the meeting I attended yesterday.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) has recently landed in Denmark. Yesterday he was at the summit on Ukraine in Paris. Following the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not rule out sending ground forces to Ukraine. The play has attracted great international attention.
– I do not recognize myself in what Macron said. This was not a proposal that came up at the meeting yesterday, not even from France, says Støre to Dagbladet.
– Unacceptable
Støre is crystal clear: Norway will not send soldiers to Ukraine.
– It is out of the question from the Norwegian side to send ground forces into Ukraine, and everyone I heard in Paris yesterday shared that opinion. Nor is it something that Ukraine has asked us to do, Støre continues.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized today that NATO has no plans to send soldiers to Ukraine.
Did not discuss ground forces
Støre says Macron’s statement about ground soldiers – which he therefore does not recognize – came up after a discussion about, among other things, border control.
– There was a discussion about some more training of Ukrainian soldiers inside Ukraine, and contributing with demining and border control inside the country rather than outside.
– There was broad agreement in Paris that operating with militaries from other countries in Ukraine will put NATO countries in direct conflict with Russia, continues Støre, who refers to it as “irrelevant”.
Støre says that the meeting in Paris was about far more than discussion about ground forces from NATO countries.
– Everyone at the meeting yesterday agreed on what Ukraine needs. And there is ammunition, air defenses, and support to build up their own military industry – not ground forces from NATO countries. On all three points, there was clear feedback that NATO countries stand together. There was a broad understanding that Ukraine can defend itself, says Jonas Gahr Støre.
Russia responds
Shortly after Macron’s outburst, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stepped out and said that the defense alliance has no plans to send soldiers into Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the fact that sending troops is being discussed at all is an important new element. He believes that it will lead to a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
– Moscow’s answer is to raise perspective. They say more and more often that the war is between Russia and the West.