February 27, 2024 - Russia-Ukraine news

Following a meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that sending Western troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out."

His comments have drawn a swift response from various leaders, with one clear message: that will not be happening.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that conflict with Russia would be inevitable if Western nations sent troops into Ukraine.

Here's what other countries have to say:

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Moscow’s forces have taken control of the settlement of Sieverne, west of the town of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region. 

Footage shared on social media and geolocated by CNN showed Russian forces inside the small settlement. Pro-Ukrainian military bloggers have also reported the loss of the village.

“Our units withdrew from the small villages of Sieverne and Stepove,” the spokesperson for the Tavria operational and strategic group, Dmytro Lykhovii, said during a national broadcast Tuesday.

Oleksandr Tarnavsky, who leads a group of Ukrainian troops, also said Ukraine has stabilized the front line in the area of the settlements of Tonenke, Orlivka and Berdychi.

Remember: On Monday, Ukrainian forces retreated from the village of Lastochkyne, both sides confirmed. Russian forces are intensifying attacks and continuing to push west. Lastochkyne is also located near Avdiivka, where Russia raised its flag on February 18.

NATO is not planning to deploy combat troops on the ground in Ukraine, a NATO official told CNN on Tuesday. 

“NATO and Allies are providing unprecedented military support to Ukraine. We have done that since 2014, and we stepped up after Russia's full-scale invasion,” the official said. “But there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine.”

The official added that NATO would continue to support Ukraine as it has up until now. 

“We must remember what this is: a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine, blatantly violating international law,” the official said. “According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence, and we have the right to support them. That is what NATO Allies are doing and will continue to do.”

The response comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said he could not rule out the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made a clear statement on any potential plans to send troops to Ukraine, saying “there will be no ground troops.”

His comments come after French President Emmanuel Macron said he could not rule out the possibility of Western countries sending troops to Ukraine on Monday.

"It is important to keep reassuring ourselves of this," he added.

Scholz also said "this good, detailed discussion” was held in Paris, and said the summit was “very unanimous on this issue.”

Alexey Navalny’s team is struggling to find a venue to hold a farewell ceremony for the Russian opposition leader, with one funeral venue saying they were prohibited from working with them, his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, revealed on Tuesday.

“Since [Monday] we have been looking for a venue where we can say goodbye to Alexey,” Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We called most private and public funeral agencies, commercial sites and funeral halls.” 

According to Yarmysh, despite efforts, most agencies and sites contacted have either claimed the space is occupied or refused them as soon as Navalny's name is mentioned, in one instance citing a direct prohibition on working with Navalny's team.

On Monday, Yarmysh announced plans for a public farewell ceremony for Navalny at the end of the work week, urging those with suitable premises to reach out to the team. 

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico warned Monday that proposals by Western states to send troops to Ukraine, "even if only on a bilateral level," would lead to a "significant escalation of tensions." 

After the meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that sending Western troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out."

But, he said there was “no agreement this evening to officially send troops onto the ground." 

In a post published after the meeting, Fico said he found the "purely combat atmosphere" at the meeting supporting the war "disappointing," and that his government "will never agree to send Slovak troops to the war in Ukraine."

CNN has reached out to Fico's office for further comment. 

Meanwhile, the head of the German Green party which is part of the ruling coalition, Omid Nouripour, has also sought to allay fears of sending troops to Ukraine, saying "I saw a humorous Macron who simply wanted to say: I don't want to rule out anything."

Nouipour said the idea of sending German troops was not up for debate: "It is not an issue at all. It is not an issue in the discussion in Germany and also not in an alliance.”

That sentiment was echoed by Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who said the country was not prepared to send either weapons or soldiers to Ukraine.

"The war must be ended, not deepened and widened," he said in a post on Facebook.

CNN's Chris Stern in Berlin and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that conflict with Russia would be inevitable if Western nations sent troops into Ukraine.

He said those governments should consider whether the move was in their country’s interests. 

“These countries must also assess and be aware of this, asking themselves whether this is in their interests, as well as the interests of the citizens of their countries,” he told journalists during a daily call on Tuesday. 

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out sending Western troops into Ukraine to support Kyiv.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has the fate of a democracy and a people in his hands.

It’s not the United States, which will survive even if the coming general election results in another existential test for the constitutional system.

Johnson has the power to save Ukraine, two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded, decreeing that it didn’t have the right to exist.

Ukraine’s soldiers are running out of bullets. There are signs that Russia may be about to break a stalemate and tip the war its way.

Johnson, a backbencher who was the last-ditch choice to lead the mutinous House GOP majority last year, could relieve Ukraine’s agony and help ensure its survival as an independent nation in the coming days.

He could allow a vote on a bill that includes $60 billion in aid that the Pentagon says is needed for Kyiv to continue to fight effectively. It would likely pass with a comfortable bipartisan majority.

The Louisiana Republican’s reluctance to do so is a commentary on the growing power of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, the sharp turn of his party away from its globalist pro-democracy heritage, and perhaps even his own ambition since borrowing Democratic votes to finance Ukraine’s defense could cost him the speakership.

His predicament will be highlighted at a meeting of the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday called by President Joe Biden.

Read more on Johnson's role in deciding Ukraine aid.

Sweden has cleared a final hurdle in its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after Hungary approved its accession to the alliance.

Sweden and Finland sought to join the alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abandoning the decades-long policy of non-alignment. Sweden can expect that Russia will "not like" the country's accession to NATO, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the move toward Sweden's membership, and said that Ukraine is looking forward “to working closely with Sweden and other NATO allies to advance Ukraine's NATO membership."

A decision to admit Ukraine would extend the sacred NATO pledge that an attack on one member is an attack on all to a nation Russia regards, at a minimum, as part of its sphere of influence

Here are the top headlines: