France could send troops into Ukraine if Russia breaks through lines

Macron said France could send troops to Ukraine if Russian forces crossed the line and Kyiv offered to help.


"I don't rule out any possibility, because we are facing Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also doesn't rule anything out. Many countries have understood France's policy and agree with our position," French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published on May 2, when asked if he would stand by the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine

The Elysee Palace boss said the announcements about the deployment of troops to Ukraine were a "strategic wake-up call" for Western leaders, in response to the risk of Russia advancing further if it achieves its campaign objectives in Ukraine.

"If Russia is about to break through the line and the Ukrainian side makes a request for assistance, we will have to ask ourselves about this," Macron said, referring to preconditions for sending troops to Ukraine. "But that's something that hasn't happened at the moment."

After a failed counteroffensive last year, Ukrainian troops are retreating to defend a nearly 2,000-kilometer line along the front line to prevent Russian forces from counterattacking. Russian units have recently increased pressure on some points on Ukrainian lines, especially in the eastern region and Kharkiv Oblast in the northeast, but have not breached the barrier.


Macron referred to the precedent France used to send troops to fight terrorist groups in the Sahel after receiving offers of help from several African countries.
"Moscow's reaction to my remarks shows that this move has had the desired effect, which is to send the message 'we will not sit idly by if Russia intends to go further'," the French president said.

He said the West needs to maintain support and ensure Ukraine takes measures against Russian forces, while maintaining deterrence by ensuring a certain ambiguity, not revealing all future calculations and plans of action.

"I have a very clear strategic goal, which is that Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine. European security will be threatened if this happens. We must not rule out any option, because the goal is to ensure that Russia never wins against Ukraine," he added.

After a meeting of about 20 European leaders in Paris on Feb. 26, Macron surprised Western allies by saying the sides had "open, frank discussions" and "did not rule out the possibility of the West sending troops into Ukraine." The idea of sending troops into Ukraine is already taboo, especially as NATO seeks to avoid being dragged into a broader war with nuclear-weapon Russia.

The United States, Germany, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and many European countries have said they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine. Leaders have said they do not want their forces to be directly involved in the war, nor do they want direct clashes with Russia.

The Kremlin has warned that sending Western troops to Ukraine would lead to the risk of an "inevitable" direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. "NATO countries must assess and be well aware of the consequences of such a move," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.