French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his position on Thursday that sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out, adding that many EU countries agreed to the approach, AP News reported.
Macron, who is commander-in-chief of France’s armed forces, declined to describe the situation in which Paris would be willing to send troops. However, he stated that Moscow would be responsible for such a move.
“It wouldn’t be us. Today, to have peace in Ukraine, we must not be weak.”
He also called the war in Ukraine “existential” for France and Europe.
For us to decide today to be weak, to decide today that we would not respond, is being defeated already. And I don’t want that.
Macron’s televised interview came after the French parliament debated the country’s strategy towards Ukraine this week. Both the National Assembly and the Senate approved by symbolic vote a 10-year bilateral security agreement signed last month between Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Macron announced he would work to further support Ukraine at a meeting scheduled for Friday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin. France, Germany and Poland would meet in what was known as the Weimar Triangle. This alliance was particularly important nowadays, Scholz stated.
“[Supporting Ukraine] s a very concrete and very practical question of whether there is enough ammunition, enough artillery, enough air defence – many things that play a major role. And discussing and advancing this co-operation once again is what is needed right now.”
Earlier, European leaders and other Western leaders criticised Macron for his remarks on February 26 that sending alliance troops “cannot be ruled out.” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called his call to stop being cowards in supporting Ukraine “useless.”
At the same time, the White House stated in response to Macron’s claim that US troops would not go to war in Ukraine. The Biden administration also claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not ask for foreign troops and wanted to fight on his own.
Then, in early March, Macron reiterated the possibility of sending a military contingent to take part in the conflict in Ukraine. The French president sought to convince his detractors that the conflict posed an “existential threat for our Europe and for France.”
Hours before flying to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was angered by his French counterpart’s recent remarks, Macron emphasised that “we have put too many limits in our vocabulary.”
Macron spoke to Scholz and US President Joe Biden in April to tell them that he wanted to use the Paris summit to announce a new approach. Scholz then explained to him that the leaders of other countries would be forced to reject his position, advising him not to take that step.
The Estonian Defence Ministry stated that servicemen from EU countries would under no circumstances take direct part in combat operations, limiting themselves to training Ukrainian soldiers. According to the Estonian defence minister, the French president’s statement about sending its military to Ukraine ‘’mainly relates to the field of training.‘’ Meanwhile, it is reported that servicemen from all NATO countries are already present in Ukraine, mainly as advisers and instructors.
Macron’s recent statements on joint European defence have also provoked a barrage of criticism from political opponents both in France and in the European Parliament. French National Assembly member Bastien Lachaud stated that “under the guise of defending European soil, Macron wants to liquidate France’s strategic autonomy.” French MEP Thierry Mariani said:
Macron is becoming a national danger… We can’t wait for June 9 [when EU elections are set to take place] to give him a clear signal that his policies are over!
