French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that a number of countries have pledged to provide troops as part of a “reassurance force” to send to Ukraine after a peace deal was reached, a plan Russia has made clear it would never accept.
Macron made the comments alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after hosting a summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine. He said that 26 countries pledged to provide troops on land, at sea, or in the air, signaling that not all countries are willing to deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine.
The French leader said that the force “does not have the will or the objective of waging war against Russia,” but will aim “to prevent any new major aggression and to involve the 26 states very clearly in the lasting security of Ukraine.”
Both he and Zelensky said the US supports the idea, and President Trump has signaled he’s willing to provide air power for the deployment, but has ruled out sending US troops into Ukraine.
Officials told The Washington Post that the US has expressed to its European allies its willingness to provide additional air defenses, including assistance in enforcing a no-fly zone, as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
One US official told the Post that the American role in the deployment was yet to be determined. “There is a difference between offer and agree,” the official said. “That’s the president’s call. He has not made any decision yet.”
The insistence on putting troops from NATO countries on the ground in Ukraine could end up sinking the peace process as Moscow has repeatedly rejected the possibility and says that it must be involved in any talks about security guarantees for Ukraine.
“Russia is not going to discuss a foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form or format that is fundamentally unacceptable and undermines any security,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
Yesterday I saw this headline and tried to interpret it for myself:
“TRUMP TO SIGN EXECUTIVE ORDER REBRANDING DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AS THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR.”
So, thought I, he’s wanting to move us from a defensive position to an offensive position, as if it hasn’t been that way all along. It’s just that now he’s rubbing it in the face of the world. So much for non-interventionism.
Google defines non-interventionism as “a foreign policy doctrine where a nation refrains from interfering in the internal affairs of other sovereign states, often citing the right of nations to govern themselves without external coercion.”
Wondering: Did non-interventionism ever exist?
Calling this department “The Department of War” reads like a world threat:
“Wherever you are, we’re coming after you. Whatever you’ve got, we’re taking it.”
And concerning those of us who live here… it’s pretty much saying, “You don’t matter, you don’t count. You only exist when you are useful to us.”
One might also reduce all this to: “Greater Israel or bust!!”
Still others conclude: “It’s Liberty of Bust!!”
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Ha!! I meant “Liberty OR bust!!” Make of it what you will.
🙂
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Nice photo of a couple butt pirates }:^]
https://youtube.com/shorts/YGrTi37lAq4?si=IdgMMx9QH7_2PYlm