Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said that Finland is against the idea of sending troops from Western countries to Ukraine to prevent Russia from winning the war.
Niinistö made the comments in an email to Yle on Tuesday, after attending a summit aimed at finding new ways to support Ukraine.
After the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said the West should not rule out the possibility of sending European troops to the war-torn country.
In an email about the matter, Niinistö said that "there was a widely shared perception that there would be no military presence," adding that "this was also Finland's position".
Leaders from about 20 European countries met at Tuesday's summit at the Élysée palace in Paris, which Macron initiated. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the leaders via videolink.
In his email, the Finnish president said that there were useful discussions held at the summit, with leaders emphasising the importance of the material help that can be provided to Ukraine.
"It may be necessary to consider new ways of fulfilling [those needs]," Niinistö said.
No from Nato and the White House
Macron floated the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine at a post-summit press conference. The French leader said that doing so should not be ruled out, but also acknowledged that there was not a consensus among the leaders about doing so.
Meanwhile, Nato General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg told the Associated Press that the alliance had no plans to send troops to Ukraine. A White House official told Reuters that the US had no such plans either.
The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that conflict between Russia and Nato would be inevitable if European members of Nato sent troops to fight in Ukraine.
The Paris conference will likely be Niinistö's last foreign trip as president, as his second term ends on Friday.
18.26: Clarified that Niinistö was stating Finland's position, not his personal view.
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