FFrench President Emmanuel Macron does not rule out his country's use of ground forces in Ukraine. Nothing can be ruled out to prevent a Russian victory in Ukraine, Macron said after concluding a Ukraine aid conference with more than 20 heads of state and government, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), in Paris on Monday evening.
“There is no consensus today regarding officially sending ground forces,” Macron said. “But nothing in the dynamic can be ruled out. “We will do everything we can to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.” Many of the people who said “never, never” today are the same people who two years ago said, “never, never.” Tanks, never, never planes, never, never long-range missiles.” The discussion today is about becoming faster and stronger at delivering tanks and missiles. “So anything is possible if it is useful to achieve our goal,” the French President said.
“The general conclusion today is that the security of all of us is at stake,” Macron said at the beginning of the conference, which was organized at short notice. Russia's position is becoming more stringent at the political level and on the front in Ukraine, where there is a threat of new Russian attacks. Defeating Russia is essential for stability and security in Europe. That's why Ukraine's supporters need to move forward. “We are about ensuring our security today and tomorrow,” Macron said. The president also said: “We do not want to go to war with the Russian people.”
Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had previously stated that individual Western countries would consider sending their soldiers to Ukraine. “I did not say that France is not open to this,” Macron said. Rather, he is committed to “strategic ambiguity.”
The French President said that it was decided during the meeting to form an alliance that would provide Ukraine with medium- and long-range missiles and bombs to direct strikes far from Russian lines. In the short term, additional ammunition for Ukraine must also be mobilized from our own stockpiles and from third countries. There is currently no decision to hand over French Mirage fighters.
But he did not mention which countries should participate and in what form. Before the start of the conference, Chancellor Schulz reiterated his negative position on the deployment of long-range Taurus cruise missiles.
Macron said that it was decided during the conference to provide more aid to Ukraine faster. France also supports considerations of using common debt to finance European defense spending in light of the war in Ukraine. Similar to the Corona crisis, all European countries are affected by Russian aggression, which justifies the special path of joint debt. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who joined the conference shortly with a video message, called for more assistance so that Russia does not expand its aggression to other countries.
Nouripour: The deployment of Western ground forces in Ukraine is not a problem
After French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also did not rule out sending ground forces to Ukraine. Macron reminded that “nothing can be ruled out in the war that is once again taking place in the heart of Europe and at the gates of the European Union,” Attal told RTL radio on Tuesday.
But Green Party leader Omid Nouripour said on Tuesday that deploying Western ground forces in Ukraine was not up for discussion. “It is not a problem at all. It is not an issue in the discussion in Germany or in the coalition,” Nouripour said on NTV. He said of the French president’s comments: “I was confronted by a humorous Macron who simply wanted to say: I don’t want to rule out any something”.
