France to Send Troops to Romania amid Fears of Russian Invasion of Ukraine

In response to worries of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, France wants to send several hundred soldiers to Romania as part of a prospective deployment on NATO's eastern flank, Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Saturday.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, recently stated that France is "ready to go farther, and within the framework of NATO, to commit to new missions... in particular in Romania."

Parly told France Inter radio on Thursday that she had travelled to Romania to discuss the situation.

Romania, she claimed, was a "high-tension zone" that needed to be "reassured."

"We will have a meeting with NATO members very soon," she added, adding that as part of a "defensive alliance," Paris planned to send "several hundred personnel" to Romania.

According to the West, which fears a Kremlin assault, the Kremlin has deployed around 100,000 troops and heavy armour along Ukraine's borders.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on Saturday that he and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock will visit Ukraine on February 7-8.

"I have promised Dmytro Kuleba (Ukraine's foreign minister) of our complete support and solidarity," he said.

Moscow has requested a slew of security guarantees, including the fact that Ukraine would never be admitted to NATO.

Those demands have been the subject of intense negotiations, with the West threatening far-reaching repercussions if diplomacy fails and Russia attacks.