French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that he does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, saying the issue could “legitimately” arise if Russia were to invade the Ukrainian front and Kiev made such a request, in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, according to France 24.
The Economist said Macron gave the interview after giving a keynote speech last week in which he said Europe could “die” in part because of the threat posed by Russian aggression after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“I’m not ruling anything out, because we’re dealing with someone who isn’t ruling anything out,” Macron said when asked if he stood by comments from earlier this year that did not rule out sending Western troops that sent shockwaves across Europe.
Some analysts believe that Russia may be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.
Macron said that “if Russia has decided to go ahead, in any case we will all have to ask ourselves this question” of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such action as a “strategic alarm signal for my counterparts”.
He described Russia as “a regional destabilizing power” and “a threat to the security of Europeans”.
“I have a clear strategic goal: Russia cannot win in Ukraine,” Macron said.
“If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe.
“Who can claim that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighboring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?”, he asked.
Tags: Macron reaffirms possibility sending troops Ukraine Russia breaks Ukrainian front
