MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Friday deemed Emmanuel Macron’s comments on sending Western ground troops to Ukraine “very dangerous” and accused the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, of fueling an “escalation” in the conflict.
In an interview with The Economist published Thursday, the French president reiterates his controversial proposal to send ground troops to Ukraine if the Russian army were to “break through the front lines.”
“If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request – which is not the case today – we should legitimately ask ourselves the question,” he said in particular.
Emmanuel Macron invites us not to “discard a priori” this option, explaining that it is a question of learning lessons from the early stages of the conflict. NATO countries had in fact ruled out supplying tanks and planes to Ukraine in the war between it and Russia since February 2022, before changing their minds.
“This is a very important and very dangerous statement,” responded Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov during a press briefing.
“France, he continued, through its head of state, continues to talk about the possibility of its direct involvement, on the ground, in the conflict in Ukraine.”
Visiting Kyiv on Thursday, British Foreign Minister David Cameron announced an additional envelope of 500 million pounds sterling (nearly 590 million euros) to provide ammunition and weapons to Ukraine.
He said that London would bring together its international partners in June to raise more funds for Ukraine.
The International Fund for Ukraine, established in 2022, brings together the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand.
Faced with Russian drone attacks, the United Kingdom insists on the need to supply the Ukrainian army with precision-guided bombs, anti-aircraft defense modules and missiles.
David Cameron estimated that the weapons thus supplied by the United Kingdom could be used “to strike in Russia since Russia is striking in Ukraine”.
Dmitry Peskov denounced “a direct escalation”, deploring worrying remarks which could endanger the European security architecture.
(Reuters report, French version Sophie Louet, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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