Once again, Emmanuel Macron’s statements have sparked an international outcry. Twenty months after suggesting “do not humiliate” Russia, here is the French president accused of opening an untimely debate on the possible sending of allied troops to Ukraine, in order to defend it against attacks from the Kremlin.
On this subject, “nothing should be excluded”said Mr. Macron, at the end of the conference he had just chaired on Monday at the Elysée, with the aim of “more and better” in support of kyiv. “A lot of people who say ‘Never, never’ today were the same people who said ‘Never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles’ two years ago.”the head of state argued.
The suggestion quickly aroused strong reactions, even some consternation. In Washington, John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, was categorical: “There will be no American troops on Ukrainian territory. » “The UK has no plans to deploy troops widely in Ukraine” beyond “of the few” of British personnel already in the country to ” to assist “ the Ukrainian armed forces, added Downing Street, where the issue is not totally taboo.
Even the participants in the Paris conference sought to distance themselves from the “option” discussed Monday evening at the initiative of the French president. Starting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “What was decided between us from the beginning [de la guerre] continues to be valid for the future. There will be no troops on the ground, no soldiers sent either by European states or by NATO states on Ukrainian territory., declared the social democratic leader, on the sidelines of a trip to Friborg (Switzerland). The Finnish President, Sauli Niinistö, also present at the Elysée on Monday evening, declared to the Finnish public television channel Yle that“There was general consensus that there should be no military presence. This was also Finland’s position..
“This war has no military solution”
Quick to tear themselves apart over the war in Ukraine, the four leaders of the Visegrad group (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia), meeting in Prague on Tuesday, were unanimous on the subject of Emmanuel Macron’s remarks. None of the four countries “does not plan” to deploy soldiers in Ukraine, they repeated one after the other. “I believe that we should not speculate today on the future, nor on the question of whether there will be circumstances which will modify this position”said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, one of Ukraine’s main supporters within the EU. “This war has no military solution”, repeated the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who has refused to send weapons since the start of the war. Also hostile to any armed support, the Slovakian Robert Fico took the opportunity to repeat that he rejected the sending of soldiers “on principle”.
You have 70.06% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.