Send European troops to Ukraine?
French President
Emmanuel Macron
expressed this determination on Monday night, if necessary to help Ukraine, which feels abandoned by Western countries and may lose the war against Russia.
But the proposal, launched for the first time, sparked controversy: several countries rejected the idea, including Germany, Italy and Spain.
And the Russian government responded immediately.
"It is not in the interests of those countries at all, and they must be aware of it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the proposal presented by the president of France and considering that the simple fact of Raising that possibility represents "a very important new element" in the conflict.
The spokesperson answered whether the presence of troops from NATO member countries in Ukraine would lead to a direct confrontation between the Atlantic Alliance and Russia.
"In that case we would have to talk not about a possibility, but about the inevitability" of that confrontation, he said.
"And these countries have to ask themselves if (confrontation with Russia) is good for them, and above all, if it is good for their citizens," Peskov warned.
After an international conference in support of Ukraine, which brought together 21 heads of state at the Elysée in Paris on Monday,
Macron reaffirmed Paris' commitment to Ukraine.
"The defeat of Russia is essential for security and stability in Europe," he said at a press conference.
In fact, the sending of Western troops on the ground to Ukraine should not be "excluded" in the future, Macron stated, considering however that
"there is no consensus"
at this stage on this hypothesis.
“Today there is no consensus to send ground troops in an official, supposed and supported manner.
But in this dynamic nothing should be excluded.
We will do everything necessary so that Russia cannot win this war,” explained the French Head of State.
The president did not want to say more about France's position on this issue, citing a "strategic ambiguity that I accept."
But he clarified: "I did not say at all that France was not in favor. I will not disambiguate this afternoon's debates by naming names. I say that it was mentioned among the options."
Emmanuel Macron received Western leaders this Monday to talk about aid to Ukraine.
Photo: AFP
Controversy
France
had never mentioned this option before
.
Questioned at the end of the meeting at the Elysée, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte assured that the issue of sending ground troops was not on the agenda.
He is the favorite candidate to lead NATO soon.
"Many people who say never, never today are the same people who two years ago said 'never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles,'" Macron continued.
“Let us have the humility to note that many times we have arrived late, between six and twelve months.
This was the goal of this afternoon's debate: everything is possible if it is useful to achieve our goal,” he said.
The French president recalled, however, that kyiv's allies "are not at war with the Russian people," but rather "they simply did not want to let them win in Ukraine."
Sending Western troops to Ukraine
“is not at all relevant at the moment
,” insisted Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the day after Emmanuel Macron's statement.
"There is no demand" from the Ukrainian side for ground troops, he said.
Therefore, “the issue is not current,” he insisted, without excluding this possibility in the future.
The French head of state also announced that Ukraine's allies would create
a coalition to deliver medium- and long-range missiles
to Ukraine.
It was decided “to create a coalition for deep strikes and, therefore, medium and long-range missiles and bombs,” he said.
Hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regretted having received “unfortunately” only 30% of the “millions of projectiles that the European Union” had “promised” to Ukraine.
“Together we must ensure that Putin cannot destroy what we have achieved and cannot extend his aggression to other countries,” also declared the Ukrainian president, who has been demanding more weapons and ammunition from the West for months.
Guards at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, this Monday, during the meeting of European leaders.
Photo: BLOOMBERG
Macron listed five “categories of actions” with consensus: cyberdefensive;
co-production of weapons, military capabilities and ammunition in Ukraine;
the defense of countries directly threatened by the offensive in Ukraine, such as Moldova;
the “ability to support Ukraine on its border with Belarus with non-military forces” and demining operations.
Purchase of ammunition
Several European countries support the Czech initiative for the EU to buy munitions outside Europe to further support Ukraine's war effort, participants at the meeting on aid to kyiv said in Paris on Monday.
"The Czech initiative enjoys great support from several countries," declared the Prime Minister of that country, Petr Fiala, at the end of this meeting that brought together more than 25 countries allied with kyiv, at the Elysée presidential palace.
"It is a very strong message sent to Russia," declared the leader, ensuring that fifteen countries were willing to join this initiative that aims to respond to the shortage of ammunition, particularly artillery projectiles, for Ukraine.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated that his country would contribute "more than 100 million euros" to the Czech plan and that "other countries would follow" this path.
"As for ammunition, there is a very good Czech initiative which consists of purchasing ammunition and shells all over the world for Ukraine," he explained.
Criticism of Macron
Many deputies from La France Insoumise and the head of the Socialist Party harshly criticized the President of the Republic, who does not rule out sending Western military troops to Ukraine against Russia.
Several left-wing political leaders, notably the rebel Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the socialist Olivier Faure, rejected Macron's statements on the war in Ukraine on Monday night.
“War against Russia would be crazy,” the leader of rebel France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, responded on social media, calling Macron’s comments “irresponsible.”
"Sending troops to Ukraine would make us belligerents. This bellicose verbal escalation of a nuclear power against another great nuclear power is already an irresponsible act," protested the former candidate for the presidential elections.
“It is time to negotiate peace in Ukraine with mutual security clauses!” he added.
The socialists opposed it.
"Support the Ukrainian resistance, yes. Go to war with Russia and drag the continent. Crazy," writes the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, who considers the "presidential levity" on the subject "worrying."
CB