Emmanuel Macron called on the Western allies to ramp up their support to Ukraine during a meeting in Paris to ensure Russia's "defeat", announcing new measures to supply more weapons to Kyiv and refusing to rule out the option of sending Western troops to the future.
"We are certainly at the moment of a much-needed leap forward on the part of all of us," said Emmanuel Macron at the opening of the summit in Paris on Monday in front of several European heads of state and government, including Germany's Olaf Scholz, Poland's Andrzej Duda, Spain's Pedro Sanchez and Slovakia's Robert Fico, as well as the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, and representatives from the USA and Canada.
His Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was present during the conference, lamented that Ukraine had "unfortunately" only received 30% of the "million shells that the European Union" had "promised" to Ukraine. "We have to admit that we didn't have that million," replied Emmanuel Macron to the press at the end of the evening, referring to an "imprudent commitment".
Above all, the French President was more on the offensive than ever when asked about the possibility of Western countries deciding to send troops to Ukraine - an option raised, and denounced by the Slovak Prime Minister, as well as the German Chancellor.
"There is no consensus today to send troops on the ground in an official, assumed, and endorsed manner. But in dynamic terms, nothing should be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war", asserted Emmanuel Macron, saying he "assumes" a "strategic ambiguity".
Such an ambiguity is not something new to the French President yet this time he has seemingly overplayed his hand. While certain French analysts believe the purpose of such a statement was to distract attention from the troubles with the agricultural unions, Macron is facing, some believe his words will differ from his actions and accuse the president of posturing.
Meanwhile, the German chancellor flatly rejected Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion on Monday night that European soldiers could be deployed to the battlefield.
“Once again, in a very good debate, it was discussed that what was agreed from the outset among ourselves and with each other also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states,” Mr. Scholz said.
Furthermore, the British side also declared its unwillingness to push forward with the agenda that is supposedly being set by Macron. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We’ve got no plans to make a large-scale deployment.”
While Jens Stoltenberg, the current head of NATO has also joined in to suppress the idea the French government floated Monday evening, the sentiment across the continent is clearly opposed to the idea of the presence of the European troops on the ground.
So, what was the true purpose of Macron’s statements, beside making waves across all political spectrums? Well, it may be just that. While the French president often makes contradictory comments, often using the term “strategic ambiguity” as his mantra, statements used on Monday evening bode well with his approach to creating an aura of uncertainty. Such uncertainty is more and more often being perceived as a lack of true understanding or certainty on what actions to take and leads political commentators to believe that Macron is acting on his personal instincts or emotions rather than the interests of France.
In support of this theory, it is worth noting that in rare public comments on the issue of French intervention in the Eastern European war theater, Macron went as far as to suggest that a potential nuclear ballistic attack from Russia in the region would not bring any nuclear response from Paris. France’s doctrine “is based on what we call the fundamental interests of the nation. ... They would not at all be at stake” in such a situation, he said during his interview on French television in December 2022.
All in all, Macron’s comments on Monday evening put him in the spotlight once again. The domestic opposition, in the face of Jean Luc Melenchon, was extremely critical of the idea of potential intervention of the European forces in Ukraine. Adding that the French President’s views did not find any support from his partners and allies, it is safe to presume that there might be a retraction or softening of the position that Macron pronounced during the conference. At the end of the day, if Emmanuel Macron admits to not having enough ammunition for Ukraine, is he truly sure there will be enough soldiers?
Jamal Mustafayev