France building alliance of countries ready to send troops to Ukraine

France is building an alliance of countries open to potentially sending Western troops to Ukraine — and in the process deepening its clash with a more cautious Berlin.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné was in Lithuania on March 8, where he met his Baltic and Ukrainian counterparts to buttress the idea that foreign troops could end up helping Ukraine in areas like demining, according to Politico.

"It is not for Russia to tell us how we should help Ukraine in the coming months or years," Séjourné said at a meeting chaired by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and attended by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. "It is not for Russia to organise how we deploy our actions, or to set red lines. So we decide it among us."

Séjourné repeatedly referred to mine clearance operations as a possibility, saying it "might mean having some personnel, [but] not to fight."

The meeting comes as Ukraine is suffering from an artillery ammunition shortage that is making it difficult to halt the fury of Russian attacks.

"Ukraine did not ask us to send troops. Ukraine is asking us to send ammunition at the moment," the French minister said. "We do not exclude anything for the coming months."

The Baltic ministers praised France for "thinking out of the box."

Séjourné raised concerns about Moscow setting its sights on the Baltic countries, which used to be part of the Soviet empire but are now members of the EU and NATO.

"There cannot be any 'buts.' We must draw red lines for Russia, not ourselves. No form of support for Ukraine can be excluded. We need to continue supporting Ukraine wherever it's most needed," Landsbergis said.