UK won't send British personnel to Ukraine at this time, but France hints it's an option

The UK will not be sending troops to Ukraine "at this time", following a news report that the UK and France are discussing the option.

French outlet Le Monde said the two countries were not ruling out sending troops and private defence companies to Ukraine, citing unnamed sources.

The news comes as tensions between Russia and the West have significantly escalated in recent days after US President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use American-supplied long-range missiles to attack targets inside Russia.

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The debate over sending troops to Ukraine was reignited following Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's visit to France, according to Le Monde.

But when Foreign Secretary David Lammy was asked about the report he said the UK had a longstanding position not to send troops on the ground in Ukraine - and that had not changed.

However, Mr Lammy said the UK remained ready "to support the Ukrainians with training particularly".

"There has been a longstanding position that we are not committing UK troops to the theatre of action," he told newspapers La Repubblica, Le Monde and Die Welt at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy.

“That is certainly the UK position, and remains the UK position at this time."

He was then asked if that included contractors, to which he said the UK would not be committing British "troops on the ground" to Ukraine. 

"But we continue to support Ukraine with training and military assistance, and we have been absolutely clear that we will continue to do that for as long as is required and is needed," he said.

And the Prime Minister's official spokesman said there were no plans to send troops to Ukraine.

"We've previously had a limited number of troops providing medical training," he said.

"And of course, we've had a significant training programme here in the UK for Ukrainian troops, and we were providing significant amounts of military aid support for Ukraine, which we're committed to providing for as long as it takes."

However, the spokesman said he was not aware of the Prime Minister discussing the topic of sending Western troops to Ukraine with the French President Emmanuel Macron.

Tensions have escalated over Ukraine in recent days.

With President Biden preparing to leave the White House and hand over to Donald Trump, he gave permission for Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) inside Russia.

Storm Shadow missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain were reportedly fired into Russia last week, but Number 10 has refused to comment on any changes in policy allowing Kyiv to use long-range missiles in Russia.

Russia then used a new ballistic missile in Ukraine in response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was entitled to target the military facilities of countries that had supplied weapons to Kyiv, claiming the Ukraine war was becoming a global conflict.

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the BBC the Western allies should not put any limits on their support for Ukraine against Russia.

Asked if this could even mean French troops in combat, he said: "We do not discard any option."