Once again, Emmanuel Macron's statements have provoked international outcry. Twenty months after suggesting that Russia "shouldn't be humiliated," the French president has now been accused of starting an untimely debate over sending allied troops to Ukraine to defend it from the Kremlin's onslaught.
At the end of Monday's conference that he had just chaired at the Elysée, Macron said "no option should be ruled out," with the aim of doing "more and better" when it comes to supporting Kyiv. The president argued that "many of those who are saying 'Never, never' today were the same ones who said 'Never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles' two years ago."
His suggestion was met with a strong reaction, even some consternation. "There will be no US troops on the ground in a combat role in Ukraine," said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in Washington. The United Kingdom said it has "no plans to make a large-scale deployment" beyond the "small number of personnel in the country supporting the armed forces of Ukraine, including for medical training," said a spokesperson for Downing Street, where the idea is not completely off the table.
Those attending the Paris conference on the war sought to distance themselves from the "option" discussed on Monday evening by Macron. First and foremost was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. During a trip to Fribourg, Switzerland, the Social Democratic leader told reporters, "What was agreed from the beginning among ourselves and with each other also applies to the future, namely that there will be no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European states or NATO states."
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who also attended the Elysée conference on Monday evening, told Finnish public broadcaster Yle that "there was a general consensus that there should be no military presence. This was also Finland's position."
'This war has no military solution'
The four leaders of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) met in Prague on Tuesday and were quick to lay into each other over their differences related to the war in Ukraine. But they were unanimous on the subject of Macron's remarks. Not one of the four countries has plans to deploy troops to Ukraine, they said. "I think that we should not speculate today whether there will be circumstances that could change this position," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
"This war has no military solution," said Hungary's Viktor Orban, who has refused to send arms to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion. Slovakia's Robert Fico, equally hostile to any military support of Ukraine, reiterated his rejection of sending soldiers as a matter of "principle."
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