Emmanuel Macron once again assumed the possibility of sending Western troops on the ground to Ukraine, estimating in an interview published Thursday by The Economist that we should “ask the question” if Moscow “was going to break through the front lines” and that kyiv was asking for it.
“If the Russians were to go and break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request – which is not the case today – we should legitimately ask ourselves the question,” the French president said at the British weekly. “To rule it out a priori is to fail to learn the lessons of the last two years,” while NATO countries had initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine before finally change your mind, he added.
“I exclude nothing, because we are facing someone who excludes nothing”
The French head of state created controversy at the end of February by affirming that the sending of Western troops to Ukrainian soil should not “be excluded” in the future. He explained that he wanted to restore “strategic ambiguity” in the European response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the name of a “resurgence” that he was calling for.
Most European countries, as well as the United States, however, clearly distanced themselves from his remarks, even if some have since taken a step in his direction. “As I said, I exclude nothing, because we have before us someone who excludes nothing,” he reaffirmed in The Economist in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We were undoubtedly too hesitant in formulating the limits of our action to someone who no longer has them and who is the aggressor,” he continued.
“I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, we will no longer have security in Europe. Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security for the other neighboring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and so many others And behind that, what credibility for the Europeans who would have spent billions, who would have said that it was the survival of the continent that was at stake? there and who would not have given themselves the means to stop Russia? So yes, we must not exclude anything,” he insisted.