I don't rule out anything, because we're dealing with someone who doesn't rule out anything, said French President Emmanuel Macron when asked by The Economist whether he still ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. He added: “France is a country that has carried out military interventions, including recently.” – If the Russians broke through the front line, if there was a request from Ukraine, it would be reasonable to ask ourselves this question – he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron he said in February this year after the meeting of heads of state and government in Paris that “at this stage there is no consent to sending troops to Ukraine”, adding, however, that “nothing can be ruled out.” The statement caused considerable controversy among the leaders of NATO countries.
On Thursday, the British “The Economist” published an interview with the French leader, in which Macron was asked whether he stood by his February statement. – Absolutely. As I said, I'm not ruling anything out because we're dealing with someone who doesn't rule anything out. “Undoubtedly, we were too hesitant to set the limits of our actions towards someone who no longer has them and who is the aggressor,” he replied, pointing to Vladimir Putin.
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He added that “our ability is to maintain credibility, continue to help and provide Ukraine with the means to resist.” He assessed that this “credibility also depends on the ability to deter by not fully disclosing what we will or will not do.”
Macron: who can pretend that Russia will stop in Ukraine?
He said that after his February statement, “in the weeks that followed, many countries said that they understood our approach, that they agreed with our position and that this position was good.” – I have a clear strategic goal: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe, he added.
– Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will be provided to the remaining countries in the region: Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and others? What is the credibility of Europeans who would spend billions claiming that the continent's survival is at risk, but have not given themselves the means to stop Russia? – asked the French president in an interview with “The Economist”.
Emmanuel MacronLUDOVIC MARIN/EPA/PAP
Macron said that “France is a country that has carried out military interventions, including recently.” – We have deployed several thousand soldiers in the Sahel region to fight terrorism that could pose a threat to us. We did it at the request of sovereign states, Macron said.
– If the Russians broke through the front line, if there was a request from Ukraine – which is not the case today – it would be reasonable to ask ourselves this question. Therefore, I believe that excluding this a priori means that we have not drawn any conclusions from the last two years – he added.
“The Economist”, tvn24.pl
Main photo source: LUDOVIC MARIN/EPA/PAP