Macron proposed sending military instructors to Ukraine; Biden rejected initiative – Politico

In a recent telephone conversation, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested to his American colleague Joe Biden to send Western military instructors to Ukraineб Politico reports with reference to two unnamed sources familiar with the content of the conversation between the leaders.

The American president rejected Macron's proposal. Biden expressed concern about the potential consequences of sending troops from any NATO country where they could be in the line of fire and escalate the conflict.

It was Macron who lobbied for coalition troops to be sent to Ukraine to train soldiers long before any consensus was reached on such a move.

On May 27, the Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that he had already signed the documents that would allow the first instructors from France to "soon visit our training centers and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel."

Subsequently, the French Ministry of Defense reported that sending instructors to train the Armed Forces in Ukraine is one of the tracks on which work is being conducted with Ukrainians.

On May 29, Macron called Syrskyi's statement "unfortunate and inconsistent".

According to Reuters, France may soon send a limited number of military instructors to Ukraine, and later their number will increase to several hundred.

On June 5, the US president's national security advisor Jake Sullivan said that the United States does not plan to send its military instructors to Ukraine.