Emmanuel Macron once again assumed the possibility of sending Western troops on the ground to Ukraine, estimating in an interview published this Thursday by The Economist that we should “ask the question” if Moscow “was going to break through the front lines” and that kyiv asked 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,” when NATO countries had initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine before finally change your mind, he added.
Similar comments in February
As a reminder, he had already declared that this option of ground troops was not excluded at the end of last February: “There is no consensus today to send ground troops in an official, assumed and endorsed manner. But in dynamics, nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.” Which then earned him several criticisms. 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.
“I exclude nothing, because we have before us someone who excludes nothing”
“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.
“Russia cannot win in Ukraine”
“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 claim that Russia will stop there? What security for other neighboring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and 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 and who would not have given themselves the means to stop Russia? So yes, we must not exclude anything,” he insisted.
