Soldiers sent by France would train Ukrainian troops in training centers as close as possible to the front lines.
13:36•Updated 13:54
Tomorrow, Thursday, the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings will be celebrated in France, which will be attended by the president of Ukraine, among others Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
According to the Reuters news agency, France may then announce the sending of its soldiers for training missions to Ukraine.
What would it mean in practice if French soldiers set foot on Ukrainian soil?
Demining and political signals
According to Reuters, hundreds of trainers would eventually go to Ukraine from France, who would teach, among other things, how to dismantle mines, how to maintain military equipment, and the technical details of warplanes sent by the West.
Former commander of the Defense Forces and member of parliament of the coalition, general evp. Jarmo Lindberg emphasized in ‘s morning that sending French soldiers to Ukraine could mean individual persons in Ukrainian training centers.
– The fact that you talk about the crowd, you get the impression that those in field uniforms are at the front.
Senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Iro Sarkkä says that sending French trainers to Ukraine would have practical implications for warfare.
With the help of trainers sent to the place, the training of Ukrainians would be possible as close as possible to the front lines.
According to Särkä, sending French trainers would also be a political signal to Russia that Ukraine is supported in all different tasks and that Western soldiers are ready to be brought to Ukrainian soil for support tasks.
Would Article 5 of NATO be triggered?
According to Russia, Western military trainers who may arrive in Ukraine may be the target of Russian attacks.
Iro Särkkä does not see that Article Five of NATO would be triggered if, for example, a French trainer died in Ukraine.
According to Särkä, in principle, article five would be activated if one of the NATO member countries is attacked.
– It also depends on whether the state feels the need to introduce the fifth article.
Despite this, according to Särkä, a NATO member country would have to react in some way if, for example, a military person sent by them died in Ukraine.
Jarmo Lindberg underlines that NATO as an organization is not, for example, sending trainers to Ukraine.
Lindberg notes that NATO member countries’ aid to Ukraine is based on bilateral agreements between the sending countries and Ukraine.
According to him, the sending of French trainers would therefore be based on an agreement between France and Ukraine.
Watch the entire interview from ‘s morning:
United States and Ukraine
President of the United States Joe Biden will meet Ukrainian President Zelensky in the next few days, for example in Normandy.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said the US will not send military trainers to Ukraine.
According to Iro Särkä, the presence of US troops in Ukraine would be a red flag for Russia.
According to Sullivan, however, the United States plans to invest in Ukraine’s air defense.