WORLD

US 'will not send troops to fight in Ukraine:' White House

Agence France-Presse · Feb 28, 2024, 3:04 AM

Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training excercise operated by Britain's armed forces as part of the Interflex programme, in eastern England, on February 24, 2024, on the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Britain announced on Saturday a new £245 million ($311 million) defence package to help boost the production of "urgently needed artillery ammunition" for Ukraine, two years after war broke out with Russia. — Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

The White House said Tuesday that the United States would not send troops to fight in Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out the dispatch of Western forces.

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

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

House Speaker Mike Johnson, an ally of former president Donald Trump and head of a razor-thin Republican majority, has refused to allow a vote on Biden's request for about $60 billion for Ukraine.