Looking for a quarrel: The Gentleman and the Monsieur are going to fight with Russia

President Macron and British PM Starmer in Paris
Photo: AFP

Britain and France have not ruled out sending troops to Ukraine as part of a European coalition, French media has reported, amid fears that the war is edging closer to becoming an all-out conflict between Russia and NATO, writes ‘The Daily Mail’.

Discussions on sending troops from Western armies and private defence companies have been 'reactivated', according to French daily newspaper Le Monde, months after President Macron faced opposition from Western leaders over the suggestion.

The talks have also been revisited amid concerns that US support for Kyiv could be pulled by president-elect Donald Trump when he enters office on January 20, sources reportedly claimed.

London and Paris could head up a new coalition of European allies of Kyiv, the sources said, with the proposal said to have gained traction in recent weeks due to Sir Keir Starmer's visit to France for Remembrance Day on November 11.

'Discussions are underway between the UK and France regarding defence cooperation, particularly with the aim of creating a core of allies in Europe, focused on Ukraine and broader European security,' a British military source told Le Monde.

When asked about the possibility of French boots on the ground in Ukraine, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, told the BBC: 'We are not ruling out any option.'

'We will support Ukraine as intensely and as long as necessary. Why? Because it is our security that is at stake. Each time the Russian army progresses by one square kilometre, the threat gets one square kilometre closer to Europe,' he said.

He also insisted during the interview on Saturday that Western allies should 'not set and express red lines' regarding their support for Ukraine, and indicated that French long-range Scalp missiles could be fired into Russia 'in the logics of self-defence'.

His comments appear to confirm that France has followed the UK and US in giving  Kyiv the green light to use long-range missiles it has supplied it with in strikes on Russian territory.

As tensions remain high over Kyiv's use of Western-supplied long-range arms against Russia, Moscow said Monday that its air defences had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine.

'Air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles,' Moscow's defence ministry said in a daily briefing. It did not say what kind of ballistic missile Ukraine used or where they were shot down.

Six US-made guided JDAM bombs and 45 aircraft-type drones were also downed in the past 24 hours, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the defence ministry.

…These guys with their threats are more likely to frighten their own citizens than Russians. They “are not ruling out any option”, but what about retaliation strikes? Ask the British and the French…

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