“Emmanuel Macron took no one by surprise,” says a journalist

Sending Western ground troops to Ukraine must not “be excluded” in the future, said Emmanuel Macron on February 26. The President of the Republic’s comments on the possibility of sending ground troops to support kyiv in the face of the Russian invasion provoked an outcry. Ukraine’s allies, including Berlin and Washington, rejected these comments, saying it risked an escalation of the conflict.

“Send a message”

But the head of state had warned the governments supporting Ukraine. “A week before, Emmanuel Macron called Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz to warn them that he was going to move up in strategic uncertainty. In short, to send the message to Vladimir Putin: ‘we no longer have Red line’ “explains Jean Quatremer, European correspondent for Release.

“Emmanuel Macron had to bang his fist on the table to make Europeans understand that we are not very far from war with Russia”, he adds. For its part, the Kremlin reacted firmly to Emmanuel Macron’s comments, affirming that it was not “absolutely not in the interest” of these countries.