Western special forces already in Ukraine despite NATO denial: UK media

A British media report says a senior European defense official has acknowledged that “Western special forces” are unofficially present in Ukraine, despite US-led NATO’s claims of having no such plans to put combat troops on the ground.

“Everyone knows there are Western special forces in Ukraine, they’ve just not acknowledged it officially,” the senior European official, whose name was not mentioned, told the Financial Times.

This came in response to Monday remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron who did not rule out dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine.  

Macron had told reporters at a news conference that while he and the other European leaders did not agree on sending military personnel to Ukraine, “Nothing should be ruled out.”

“We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war,” Macron asserted.

His remarks, which triggered a continental uproar, came amid Russia’s insistence on the involvement of "foreign mercenaries" participating in the conflict in Ukraine.

In a recent statement, Russia's defense ministry disclosed that more than 60 foreign combatants were eliminated in a missile attack last month, with the majority reportedly being fluent in French, according to local reports.

The revelation comes as a contradiction to a Tuesday announcement by NATO’s top brass who said there are no plans to send troops to Ukraine as well as remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who denied that countries of the Western military alliance were considering the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Schultz announced Tuesday that neither NATO alliance members nor European Union countries will send their ground forces to Ukraine.

Russia: Conflict with Europe 'inevitable' if NATO deploys troops in Ukraine

The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that both Europe and the United States should “asses” their support to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned NATO’s European member states on Tuesday of a potential conflict if the West realizes a debated plan of deploying troops to Ukraine.

Leonid Slutsky, the international affairs head of Russia’s State Duma’s committee, the lower house of the federal assembly of Russia, claimed that NATO is already involved in the Ukrainian conflict as a provider of lethal weapons being used to kill civilians in Russian cities.

"The North Atlantic Alliance is already actually involved in the Ukrainian conflict through the supply of lethal weapons that are being used to kill civilians in Russian cities,” Slutsky told TASS following Macron's speculation about sending Western troops to Ukraine.

“If NATO soldiers set foot on the land of Donbass, this will mean transition to the direct military phase of NATO's struggle with Russia,” he further added.

“This spells World War III. I hope that even most frenzied NATO Russophobes are aware of the possible consequences of such decisions,” Slutsky warned.

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