Macron confirms the hypothesis of sending Western troops to fight the Russians

French President Emmanuel Macron this Thursday again acknowledged the possibility of sending Western ground forces to Ukraine in the event that Russia “breaks through the front line” and Kyiv requests such support.

“If the Russians crossed the front line, if there was a request from Ukraine – which is not the case now – we must legitimately ask ourselves this question,” the French president said in an interview with the British weekly The Economist.

For the French president, “to exclude it ‘a priori’ would be to fail to learn the lessons of the last two years,” when NATO countries initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine before changing their minds.

The French head of state sparked controversy in late February when he said the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine should not be “ruled out” in the future, explaining that his intention was to recover from “strategic ambiguity” in Europe’s response to the Russian invasion from Ukraine.

However, most European countries, as well as the United States, have distanced themselves from his comments, although some have now taken a step towards Macron.

“As I already said, I don’t rule out anything, because we have a man in front of us who doesn’t rule out anything,” confirmed Emmanuel Macron, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Western countries may be “too hesitant to articulate the limits” in their response to the conflict in Ukraine in the face of Putin, who has no borders and is an aggressor, for this reason Macron has a “clear strategic goal: Russia will not be able to win in Ukraine,” he added. Macron, arguing that if this happens, there will no longer be security in Europe.

“Who can pretend that Russia will remain here? What security will there be for other neighboring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and many others? And what credibility would the Europeans have if they spent billions, if they declared that the survival of the continent was at stake, and did not provide themselves with the means to stop Russia. So yes, we shouldn’t rule anything out,” he insisted.

On defense, Europeans must sit “at the table to build a coherent structure,” argues Emmanuel Macron, adding that “NATO is one of those answers, and it is not about removing NATO, but about the fact that this structure is much broader,” – he said. added.

In March, Emmanuel Macron confirmed that Western ground operations in Ukraine might be needed “at some point,” in statements following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

This statement by the French President provoked an increase in tensions between Paris and Moscow, accompanied by military provocations and cyber attacks by Russian institutions.

At the same time, the chief of staff of the French armed forces, General Thierry Burckhardt, said that European support for Ukraine could be more than just arms supplies, contrary to Russian expectations that Western countries would “never enter” Ukrainian soil.

French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said he “doesn’t want to take risks supporting Ukraine” and therefore advocated speeding up the production of weapons to equip the French army and export to other countries. transition to the “war economy” that Macron advocates.

At the end of April, the minister also called for the creation of a “European Rapid Reaction Force” of about 5,000 soldiers by 2025, which could intervene in crisis situations when NATO does not act.