President Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism from France’s NATO and EU partners and threats of conflict from Russia after suggesting he may need to send ground troops to Ukraine.
The French president told a press conference after a high-level meeting in Paris of mainly European partners to discuss what urgent measures can be taken to strengthen Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s recent advance into the front. , said he would not rule out the possibility of sending troops.
He said he acknowledged there was no consensus on the plan, but in a taboo-breaking move, said nothing should be ruled out to defeat Russia and keep Europe safe. “Today, there is no consensus on deploying, defending and holding ground forces accountable in an official manner,” he said.
Allies quickly ruled out sending combat troops to Ukraine. White House National Security Council Press Secretary Adrian Watson said, “President Biden has made clear that the United States will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” while the Kremlin has confirmed that NATO forces are in Ukraine. He warned that if they remained stationed there, direct confrontation with Russia would be inevitable.
NATO also announced Tuesday afternoon that it had “no plans to send NATO combat forces” to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected the idea, as did Downing Street.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also ruled out sending troops to Ukraine, apparently angry that the proposal surfaced on the day his country cleared the final hurdle to joining NATO.
He said Macron could discuss whether France should send troops to Ukraine, but not NATO. “If a country sends troops anywhere in the world, it has no effect on NATO.”
Mr Macron, known for his capricious and sometimes counterproductive diplomatic efforts, is concerned that the West is holding back on Russia’s advances without preparing realistic countermeasures, and has encouraged countries opposed to Russia to do so. He hastily assembled 20 senior ministers.
The meeting was also an opportunity for Macron to press forward with his familiar calls to strengthen his country’s defenses against Europe and end its dangerous dependence on an increasingly isolationist United States.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz frankly stated that there was an agreement at the Paris-Ukraine Conference that “no ground forces or soldiers sent by European countries or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states will be stationed on Ukrainian soil.” Ta. “It’s important to continue to reassure ourselves about this and the fact that this was done as an understanding is, in my view, a very, very good, very important step forward,” he said.
President Macron said on Monday that the West “must do everything possible to achieve our objectives” and said terrible actions of the past, such as sending long-range missiles and planes, had been abandoned, adding: “The people… We were telling them to just give them sleeping bags,” he added. Helmet”.
He said: “There is no agreement to formally support ground forces. However, nothing should be ruled out. We will do everything to ensure that Russia does not win.”
The comments also drew criticism from opposition politicians in the country. Socialist Party leader Olivier Fauré said Macron’s comments were “completely counterproductive” and only served to divide the EU, while Eric Ciotti, head of the right-wing group Républicains, said Macron’s comments were “completely counterproductive” and only served to divide the EU. It has dire consequences.” Marine Le Pen, whose far-right National Rally party is the single largest opposition party in the lower house, said Macron was “posing an existential threat to 70 million French people.”
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjournet called for clarification of this statement in a speech to the French parliament. “We must consider new actions to support Ukraine. These must respond to very specific needs and I am particularly concerned with mine clearance, cyber and weapons inside Ukrainian territory. We’re thinking about producing it,” he told lawmakers.
“Some of these actions require the presence of a presence on the territory of Ukraine, without crossing the lines of war. Nothing should be excluded. This was, and still is, the It’s a position.”
In Germany, Michael Roth, head of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee and a member of Mr. Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, said he was concerned about signs of widening rifts between Germany and France over the handling of the Ukraine crisis, saying Mr. He pointed out that he had repeatedly refused long-term assignments. range cruise missiles, and Germany’s opposition to Estonia’s proposed joint debt-based EU defense fund.
He said the possibility of sending Western ground troops was a “phantom discussion” amid Ukraine’s most pressing problems. “I don’t know anyone, even in Ukraine, who really wants that,” he said. “Above all, we need ammunition, air defense, drones and long-range weapons.”
The uproar also diverted attention from progress in talks on purchasing ammunition from third countries as a stopgap measure to address Ukraine’s alarming shortage of ammunition and shells.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who supports large-scale joint purchases from third countries outside Europe, said: “We feel that we need to develop the cooperation methods that we started implementing after the start of the invasion. There is no need to look for new ways.” .”
The fundamental problem is that European leaders have found themselves unable to direct the acceleration of weapons production in Europe, pointing to peacetime regulations such as planning permission needed to expand production lines that are slowing progress. That’s what I’m doing. Ukrainian officials say they need a minimum of nearly 200,000 shells per month, but an analysis by Estonian intelligence shows that total European production remains at around 50,000 shells per month, and currently Only a portion of it is being sent to.
Macron has found an ally in Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. “The fate of Europe is being decided on the battlefields of Ukraine. Times like these require political leadership, ambition and the courage to think outside the box,” he said.
