Stockholm, Sweden:

Sweden, which is about to join NATO, said on Tuesday it had no immediate plans to send ground troops to Ukraine.

“It’s simply not possible at the moment,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish public broadcaster SVT a day after Sweden cleared the final hurdle to join the transatlantic military alliance.

He was responding to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said on Monday that Western leaders should not rule out sending ground troops to help Ukraine defeat invading Russian forces.

“Right now, we are busy delivering advanced (military) equipment to Ukraine,” Christerson said.

Stockholm announced on February 20 that it would provide defense assistance worth 7.1 billion kronor ($682 million) to Ukraine, including artillery shells, air defense, ships, mines, torpedoes, and training for Ukrainian soldiers.

Kiev says it is severely short of weapons to defend itself against a Russian invasion, now in its third year.

Christerson said Ukraine currently has “no need” for Western ground troops.

He said that various NATO member states have different attitudes towards participating in international affairs, and “the traditions of France and Sweden are also different.”

Sweden contributes to international peacekeeping forces but has not been involved in combat since a war with Norway more than two centuries ago.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 prompted Sweden and neighboring Finland to apply to join NATO, ending their long-standing non-aligned stance.

Sweden cleared the final hurdle to becoming NATO’s 32nd member, the last country to join, after Hungary’s parliament approved Stockholm’s bid to join the alliance on Monday.

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