Emmanuel Macron judged it
"necessary"
on Tuesday in Prague to shake up Ukraine's allies, whom he urged
"not to be cowardly"
in the face of an
"unstoppable"
Russia , assuring
"to take responsibility"
for his controversial remarks on the possibility of send Western troops to this country at war.
“If every day we explain what our limits are”
in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin who
“has none”
,
“I can already tell you that the spirit of defeat is there lurking”
, warned the French head of state in the Czech Republic.
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“I fully assume”
the
“strategic leap for which I called
,” he insisted during a press conference, believing that Europe
“need”
the
“clarity”
of his words.
Even if it means shaking up your allies?
“I think it is necessary”
because
“if we are passive”
,
“the risk we run is to suffer”
, he then told a few journalists at the end of the visit, calling for
“resuming of initiative”
.
The Czech President, Petr Pavel, gave him his support, saying he was
“favorable to the search for new options, including a debate on a potential presence in Ukraine”
, without however crossing the
“red line”
of the deployment of
“combat troops »
.
A satisfaction which contrasts with the trouble sowed by Emmanuel Macron when on February 26, at the end of an international conference in Paris, he mentioned a
“strategic ambiguity”
so that Moscow knows that everything will be done to prevent it from
“ win this war
.
He then explained that sending Western military personnel to Ukraine could not
“be ruled out”
in the future, even if he recognized that there was no
“consensus”
at present.
From the United States to Germany, the vast majority of other allies took turns to distance themselves from these comments and ensure that there was no question of sending soldiers to Ukrainian soil, presenting an image of division from the western camp.
Tuesday evening, a White House spokesperson drove home the point by specifying that Ukrainian President Zelensky had
“never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country.”
Germany did not appreciate Emmanuel Macron's comments
Vladimir Putin has warned of a
“real threat”
of nuclear war in the event of escalation.
“We do not want an escalation
,” the French president responded remotely from Prague.
But he also warned of the risk of blindness in the face of
“the tragedies that are coming”
.
“We will have to live up to History and the courage it implies
,” he warned, believing that Europe was entering a moment
“where it would be appropriate not to be cowardly
. ”
The warning was not appreciated by Germany, already after a series of recent tensions on the Ukrainian issue.
“We do not need (...) discussions about having more or less courage
,” responded German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
“It doesn't really help solve the problems”
of Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron assured that Berlin was not particularly targeted.
“It targets everyone
,” he said.
A Czech initiative
The French leader, who is due to go to Ukraine by mid-March, seems increasingly to want to impose his leadership in supporting Kiev and the standoff with Russia.
A week ago in Paris, he outlined several avenues for strengthening the military support provided to the Ukrainian army, which is suffering setbacks on the front.
French foreign and defense ministers will bring together their counterparts from other allied countries on Thursday by videoconference to detail these solutions.
Among them is a Czech initiative aimed at purchasing ammunition outside the European Union, due to the current shortage which complicates the lives of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, and then delivering it to them.
As early as mid-February, Petr Pavel had mentioned some 800,000 munitions which could be sent to Ukraine
“in a few weeks”
if the necessary financing (1.5 billion dollars, according to the Financial Times) was gathered.
Long reserved, Emmanuel Macron announced last week that France would participate in this initiative.
But he has not yet quantified his contribution on Tuesday, dampening the hopes of the Czech authorities.