(Dan Tri) – The French government is said to be considering sending a small military force to Ukraine to guide the Kiev armed forces, according to Le Monde.
French and Romanian soldiers participate in NATO exercises in Romania (Photo: Daniel Mihailescu).
Le Monde newspaper on March 1 quoted sources saying that the French government is considering sending a small military force directly to Ukraine to act as instructors for the Kiev armed forces and to `deter` Moscow.
Le Monde did not reveal the number of French military `instructors` likely to be deployed to Ukrainian territory, but said their ranks could include a number of `regular units`.
According to Le Monde, French Special Forces also participate in training Ukrainian soldiers on the territory of neighboring Poland and escort the country’s weapons transport to Kiev.
It is unclear whether some Special Forces units could be sent to Ukraine, if Paris decides to go ahead with the French government’s proposal.
The training that France wants to provide to Ukrainian forces `on the ground` includes handling air defense systems, sources said.
Le Monde also reported that the French government sees such troop deployment as a way of posing a `strategic dilemma` for Moscow, saying it could `limit` its ability to
To date, France still denies that any of its soldiers are present in Ukraine during the conflict with Russia.
Mr. Macron’s comments prompted many other member states in the US-led bloc, including Washington, London, Berlin and Rome, to declare that they had no plans to deploy such troops.
In response, Moscow warned that deploying NATO forces to Ukraine would make direct conflict between Russia and this military bloc inevitable.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne denied that Paris plans to send any combat units to Ukraine, adding that it will do `everything` to avoid conflict with Russia.
`Everything we do is to avoid war between Russia and NATO,` Foreign Minister Sejourne said, adding that the French government did not want to increase people’s level of anxiety.
`The French will not die because of Ukraine,` Mr. Sejourne declared.
A survey published by French newspaper Le Figaro on February 29 showed that the majority of French people disapproved of the president’s comments about the possibility of deploying troops to Ukraine.
Martin 
Jackson