STOCKHOLM, Feb 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Sweden, which is set to join NATO, said 
on Tuesday it did not currently envision sending ground troops into Ukraine.

"It's not on the cards at all for the moment," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson 
told Swedish public broadcaster SVT, the day after his country cleared the 
final obstacle to joining the transatlantic military alliance.

He was reacting to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said on 
Monday that Western leaders should not rule out sending ground troops to help 
Ukraine defeat Russia's invading forces.

"For the moment, we're busy sending advanced (military) equipment to 
Ukraine," Kristersson said.

Stockholm announced on February 20 it would give Ukraine defence aid worth 
7.1 billion kronor ($682 million), including artillery shells, air defence, 
boats, mines, torpedoes, and training for Ukrainian soldiers. 

Kyiv says it is critically short of weaponry to defend itself against 
Russia's invasion, now in its third year.

Kristersson said there was currently "no demand" from the Ukrainians for 
Western ground troops.

He said that individual NATO members had different attitudes to engaging in 
international affairs "and the French tradition isn't the same as the Swedish 
one".

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

Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, prompted Sweden and 
neighbouring Finland to apply to join NATO, ending their longstanding stance 
of non-alignment.

On Monday, Sweden cleared its final obstacle to becoming NATO's 32nd member 
after the parliament in Hungary ratified Stockholm's bid to join -- the last 
remaining Alliance country to do so.