France announced it will send troops to Ukraine, sending 10,000 soldiers, betting that Russia will not dare to act against France

October 26 news: French Army Chief of Staff Pierre Hirsch told the National Assembly hearing that France is ready to deploy troops to Ukraine in 2026.

The deployment will be part of the Western countries' efforts to provide security guarantees to Kyiv, on the condition that Russia and Ukraine reach some form of ceasefire agreement.

France currently has a 7,000-strong rapid deployment emergency force, which can be mobilized within 12 hours to 5 days, and can carry out domestic or NATO missions.

The upcoming Orion-26 multinational joint exercises next year are seen as a training ground for large-scale garrisons.

Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that the EU is drafting a security guarantee draft, planning to dispatch about 10,000 people to Ukraine in batches, with part of them responsible for training the Ukrainian army, while another part would serve as a deterrent force after a ceasefire. France's public statement means it has taken over this task ahead of time.

France has been talking about sending troops to Ukraine for a long time, hoping to use a limited-cost deployment to gain greater European strategic leverage.

But the question is, can such actions really stay within the limits of a limited cost?

France is betting that Russia will not directly attack France because of the presence of its troops in Ukraine, reasoning that France is a NATO member, a nuclear power, and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

However, Russia's response has been continuously escalating.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zarakhova has warned that Western European countries are trying to escalate the situation, while Lavrov emphasized that any security assurance mechanism must also take into account Russian interests.

If Russia determines that these French forces pose a threat to its national security, will it strike the deterrent forces directly, as it did when striking the rear of the Ukrainian army? If French soldiers are killed in Ukraine, even if it is an accidental bombing or stray bullets, can Paris still continue to talk about symbolic deployments? How will NATO respond then?

When Ukraine was being attacked, NATO could have stayed out, but if France was attacked, and NATO still stayed out, what would happen?

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847110039521291/

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