NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine?

The military situation for Ukraine has grown more difficult in recent months. There have been few breakthroughs since 2022, and the 2023 counteroffensive largely failed. The political gridlock in Washington delayed for several months US military aid that Ukraine desperately needed to defend the territory currently under Kyiv’s control. Moscow currently has an overwhelming advantage in firepower and personnel and in recent weeks has accelerated its battlefield advances taking advantage of delays in shipments of US weapons.

In February, the French President Emanuel Macron opened NATO divisions with his suggestion that the West might need to send troops to Ukraine. Although the US, UK and most EU countries have so far ruled out the idea, some NATO member states appear to support sending non-combat troops into Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces. Others have suggested targeting Russian airstrikes from NATO territory. Either of these options would be another blurring of a previous red line and could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war. Instead, more intensive diplomacy is required to end the war.