Emmanuel Macron once again raises the possibility of sending troops, if the Russian army were to “break through the front lines”

French President Emmanuel Macron persists and signs on the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. “I exclude nothing, because we have before us someone who excludes nothing”, he declares in a long interview given to the weekly The EconomistThursday 2nd of May. We were undoubtedly too hesitant in formulating the limits of our action to someone who no longer has them and who is the aggressor.he added, as the Russian army continues its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

“We should not rule out anything because our goal is that Russia can never win in Ukraine.”

Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic

in an interview with “The Economist”

At the end of February, Emmanuel Macron had already declared that nothing was “excluded” concerning the sending of French troops, before specifying, in mid-March, that “we will never lead an offensive“.

“If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request – which is not the case today – we should legitimately ask ourselves the question”continued the French president, further specifying the possible outline of such an intervention. “To rule it out a priori is to fail to learn the lessons of the last two years”while NATO countries had initially ruled out sending tanks and planes to Ukraine before finally changing their minds, he added.

“We would be wrong in terms of credibility, of deterrence vis-à-vis the Russians, to dismiss itadds Emmanuel Macron. I also note that the aggressiveness of the Russian response to my remarks showed that this produced the desired effect, which was to say: don’t think that we stop there if you don’t stop.” More broadly, the French president is calling for more European integration and cooperation in international security issues. “We must prepare to protect ourselves.”