The head of state indicated at the end of February that sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be “excluded”, sparking numerous reactions in France and abroad.
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“Strategic ambiguity is an essential element of armed conflicts and I think that it [Emmanuel Macron] had the good idea to leave this doubt”, estimated Thursday March 14 on franceinfo the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and current personal representative of the President of the Republic for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, thus returning to the declarations of the Head of State regarding the sending possible Western troops in Ukraine. These statements caused confusion among other European leaders.
If the President of the Republic stressed that no consensus existed “at this stage” among kyiv’s allies, he assumed a “strategic ambiguity” towards Russia. For Jean-Yves Le Drian, Emmanuel Macron “raised awareness of the scope of the subject” in Europe. It is “don’t set limits”summarized the former Minister of Defense of François Hollande between 2012 and 2017. “If we demarcate the playing field, we indicate to our opponent how to play”he explained, which makes it possible not to give him “marbles” and of “cards”. “So, we must sow doubt and what the President of the Republic wanted to do is to sow ambiguity”he defended.
“It’s a difficult line to maintain”, recognized the former mayor of Lorient and deputy for Morbihan. This “crest line” is of “fully support Ukraine to prevent Russia from winning” and not “enter the fight”he recalled. “We are not co-belligerents and are not going to be tomorrow”he continued.
