French President Emmanuel Macron restated a previous commitment of making troops available for Ukraine, using an interview published Thursday to detail the issue would “legitimately” arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request.
The Economist magazine said Macron gave the interview after delivering a keynote speech last week where he declared that Europe is “mortal” and could “die” partly due to the threat posed by Russian aggression after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,” said Macron when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops that sent shockwaves around Europe.
Some analysts speculate Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine, AFP reports.
Macron said “if Russia decided to go further, we will in any case all have to ask ourselves this question” of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a “strategic wake-up call for my counterparts.”
He described Russia as “a power of regional destabilisation” and “a threat to Europeans’ security” while stating, “I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine.
A French military vehicle is on display as the Russian Ministry of Defense starts to exhibit weapons and military equipment of NATO countries, including Leopard and M1 Abrams tanks, captured by the Russian army during the war against Ukraine, at Victory Park in Moscow, Russia on May 1, 2024. More than 30 samples of weapons and military equipment produced by countries such as the USA, Germany, England, France and Ukraine were available for visitors. (Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe,” Macron went on to warn.
“Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?” he asked.
Last month Macron suggested arming European Union members with nuclear weapons was also a possibility in the face of continued Russian aggression, as Breitbart News reported.
“I am in favour of opening this debate which must include anti-missile defence, the firing of long-range weapons, nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil,” Macron said.
“Let’s put everything on the table and look at what truly protects us in a credible way,” he continued, but maintained that France would keep “its specificity but is ready to contribute more to the defence of European soil.”