French President Emmanuel Macron responded to criticism and concern after his controversial statements about the possibility of sending allied troops to Ukraine in support of Kyiv in a prime-time televised discussion.
Abstaining and voting against support for Ukraine is choosing defeat.
Macron tried to prepare people’s minds for a “jolt” in support of Kyiv on Thursday, 14 March, on France’s two most watched TV channels, TF1 and France 2. He attempted to soothe the outrage sparked both at home and abroad by his controversial statements about the possibility of sending allied forces to Ukraine.
The French president sought to convince his detractors that the conflict posed an “existential” threat “for our Europe and for France.”
If the situation were to deteriorate, we must be ready and we will be ready […] We must say that we are ready to respond.
Hours before flying to Berlin for a meeting with 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.”
The two leaders were due to settle disagreements on the issue during the meeting, joined by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The trilateral talks, also called the Weimar Triangle, came a week before the next European Council meeting, which will focus on the war in Ukraine.
