Macron refuses to back down on possibility of sending troops to Ukraine
French leader Emmanuel Macron says ruling out sending troops to Ukraine is tantamount to choosing defeat against Russia
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands after a press conference in February](https://static.the-independent.com/2024/03/15/09/SEI195998690.jpg)
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Your support makes all the difference.French president Emmanuel Macron has refused to back down on controversial comments made last month in which he said he could not rule out sending troops to fight in Ukraine.
The French premier, speaking to broadcasters TF1 and France 2 last night, said to rule out the option of sending troops was tantamount to āopting for defeatā.
āRussia cannot win,ā he said. āIf Russia were to win, life for the French would change. We would no longer have security in Europe. Who can seriously believe that Putin, who has respected no limits, would stop there.ā
When pressed on whether he was sticking by his comments from last month, he said ambiguity was vital; to publicly keep the option open to send troops into the fight against Vladimir Putinās forces in Ukraine, pushing the idea that nothing is off the table, was the only way to signal the Westās unwavering support for Kyiv.
āIām right about not being specific,ā he said. āIf war was to spread to Europe, it would be Russiaās sole choice and sole responsibility. But for us to decide today to be weak, to decide today that we would not respond, is being defeated already. And I donāt want that.ā
One former senior French civil servant lauded the comments as nascent. āIt is an innovative idea that will gradually gain understanding and acceptance,ā he said.
![Emergency services work at the scene of a building that was damaged by a Russian drone attack in Vinnytsia, Ukraine](https://static.the-independent.com/2024/03/15/08/5b3de6a5401b4358ba133abc2628c3d2.jpg)
Sergei Naryshkin, chief of Russiaās foreign intelligence service, meanwhile, described the new remarks as ācrazy and paranoid dreamsā. Last month, they warned that sending troops to Ukraine would escalate the conflict.
The French leaderās comments come ahead of a Friday meeting between him, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk in Berlin, during which the trio are expected to discuss the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
Mr Scholz appeared to challenge Mr Macronās initial comments last month after the meeting in Paris. The day after that meeting, he said there would be āno ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or Nato statesā.
But ahead of the mini-summit in Berlin on Friday, he dismissed speculation that there was a growing rift between him and Mr Macron, saying he has a āvery good personal relationshipā with the French leader.
He added that supporting Ukraine āis a very concrete and very practical question of whether there is enough ammunition, enough artillery, enough air defence - many things that play a major role. And discussing and advancing this cooperation once again is what is needed right now.ā
Mr Macronās initial comments sparked a spate of rebuttals from Ukraineās western allies last month. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) told The Independent at the time that they had āno plans for UK troops to fight alongside the Ukrainian armed forcesā.
John Foreman, a former UK defence attache to Moscow until 2022, accused Mr Macron of issuing the comments to distract from an otherwise chequered past of supporting Ukraine.
āMr Macron has a long history of pronouncing on things which donāt come true while also posing as the saviour of Europe,ā he said. āThere is a big say/do gap so I didnāt take this particularly seriously.ā
He suggested the comments were intended to mask the fact that Mr Macron had previously blocked attempts by other European nations to buy much-needed artillery for Kyiv from countries outside of the bloc, a move that was criticised as costly to Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are advancing in the east.
Though he has since reneged on his opposition to this plan, Mr Foreman insisted that the delay was nonetheless damaging.
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