France says any troops in Ukraine would be in non-combat roles

PARIS — France’s defense minister said any potential European military presence in Ukraine would be in non-combat roles, and not to fight Russians, following consternation among several NATO allies after French President Emmanuel Macron left open the option of putting troops on the ground .

“Let me be clear, because I can see the way things are going on social networks and in the media, it’s not about sending troops to wage war on Russia,” French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in a hearing of the National Assembly’s defense committee Tuesday night.

Sending troops to Ukraine was among topics discussed during a meeting of 27 countries in Paris, Macron said Feb. 26, adding there was no consensus, but nothing should be excluded. His comments triggered a flurry of denials by countries including Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. while Moscow warned of direct conflict with NATO should the alliance deploy troops to Ukraine.

The countries gathered in Paris discussed “how to do things differently” in terms of aid to Ukraine, and a number of ideas were put on the table, notably around mine clearing in Ukraine and local training of troops, Lecornu said during the hearing. There was no consensus on those two ideas in the meeting, he said.

Rather than training Ukrainian troops in Poland, one possibility discussed was training on Ukrainian territory, away from the frontline, according to the minister. Ukraine will face greater training needs for troops who will be conscripted “in the near future,” Lecornu said.

More than 20 NATO countries have been training Ukrainian troops in the U.K., the United States, Spain and elsewhere. The French armed forces have been training troops from Ukraine in France and in Poland.

Lecornu said there are “areas where things can still be done,” including around military advisers. Saying that he was “being careful” as the hearing was public, the minister noted other countries have previously had “major military advisors” in Ukraine, which is “not exactly” what France did there, but something it has done in other countries in the past through partnerships.

The French minister said Germany delivering Taurus cruise missiles would help Ukraine, but it’s up to the German government to make that decision. He said the British and French deliveries of Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles had not resulted in a “logic of escalation.”

“Deep strikes are an element of differentiation for the Ukrainians,” Lecornu said. “They make it possible to hit military command centers, logistics centers and Russian ammunition warehouses, so these are obviously valuable technologies. Would the Taurus be valuable? The answer is yes, because it offers the same capabilities as SCALP or Storm Shadow.”

“But once again, Germany is sovereign in the way it decides,” Lecornu said. “This is also why we intend to remain sovereign in the way we decide on our arms exports, so everyone will be able to understand it.’’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the proposal of giving Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, arguing the weapons’ operation would make Berlin a more active participant in the war than its previous military aid donations, worth billions of euros, already have.

Meanwhile. Lecornu said Nexter, the French arm of KNDS, had boosted production of 155-millimeter artillery shells to 3,000 a month. He said the company is investing in machinery and reopening an additional production line, and the minister said he has “good hope” that France’s production will increase to 4,000 to 5,000 shells a month by the end of 2024.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——法国国防部长表示，任何潜在的欧洲军事力量在乌克兰的存在都将是非战斗性质的，不会与俄罗斯作战。此前，法国总统马克龙并未排除向乌克兰派遣地面部队的可能性，这引起了几个北约盟国的担忧。

“让我明确一点，因为我从社交网络和媒体上看到的情况来看，这不是要派军队对俄罗斯开战的问题，”法国武装部队部长塞巴斯蒂安·勒科尔努周二晚在国民议会国防委员会的听证会上说。

马克龙2月26日表示，向乌克兰派兵是27国在巴黎举行的会议上讨论的议题之一。他补充说，虽然尚未达成共识，但任何可能性都不应排除。他的言论引发了包括德国、英国和美国在内的多个国家的强烈否认，而莫斯科则警告称，如果北约向乌克兰部署军队，将与北约发生直接冲突。

勒科尔努在听证会上表示，与会各国在巴黎讨论了如何以不同的方式援助乌克兰，并提出了一系列建议，尤其是在乌克兰境内排雷和当地部队训练方面。他指出，会议并未就这两个建议达成共识。

据这位部长透露，讨论的方案之一是在乌克兰境内，远离前线，进行乌克兰军队的训练，而不是在波兰进行训练。莱科尔努表示，乌克兰“在不久的将来”将面临更大的征兵训练需求。

超过20个北约国家在英国、美国、西班牙和其他国家训练乌克兰军队。法国军队则在法国和波兰训练乌克兰军队。

勒科尔努表示，在某些领域“仍有改进空间”，包括在军事顾问问题上。他指出，由于听证会是公开的，他“非常谨慎”。这位部长还提到，其他国家此前也曾在乌克兰派遣过“重要的军事顾问”，这与法国在乌克兰的做法“并不完全相同”，但法国过去也曾通过伙伴关系在其他国家开展过类似的工作。

法国部长表示，德国向乌克兰交付金牛座巡航导弹将有助于乌克兰，但这最终取决于德国政府的决定。他还表示，英国和法国交付风暴阴影和风暴阴影导弹并未导致“局势升级”。

“纵深打击是乌克兰的一项差异化优势，”莱科尔努说。“它能够打击军事指挥中心、后勤中心和俄罗斯的弹药库，所以这些显然是非常有价值的技术。金牛座导弹系统是否也具有价值？答案是肯定的，因为它具备与SCALP或风暴阴影导弹系统相同的能力。”

“但德国在决策方式上拥有主权，”勒科尔努说。“这也是为什么我们打算在武器出口决策上保持主权的原因，这样才能让所有人都能理解。”

德国总理奥拉夫·朔尔茨拒绝了向乌克兰提供金牛座巡航导弹的提议，他认为，这种武器的投入使用将使柏林比其此前价值数十亿欧元的军事援助捐款更积极地参与这场战争。

与此同时，勒科尔努表示，KNDS的法国子公司奈克斯特公司已将155毫米炮弹的月产量提高到3000发。他表示，该公司正在投资购置设备并重启一条新的生产线。勒科尔努部长还表示，他“有信心”到2024年底，法国的炮弹月产量将增至4000至5000发。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。