Emmanuel Macron called, Tuesday March 5, in Prague on Ukraine's allies "not to be cowardly" in the face of a Russia "that has become unstoppable", ensuring that he "takes responsibility" for his controversial remarks on the possibility of sending Western troops into this country at war. “If every day we explain what our limits are” in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin who “has none and launched this war, I can already tell you that the spirit of defeat is there, lurking” , warned the French president during his visit to the Czech Republic.
“I fully accept” the “strategic leap that I called for”, he insisted at a press conference, believing that “the clarity” of his words was “what Europe needed”. At his side, the Czech President, Petr Pavel, gave him his support. “I support exploring new options, including a debate on a potential presence in Ukraine,” he agreed.
A satisfaction which contrasts with the trouble sown by Mr. Macron when, on February 26, at the end of an international conference in Paris, he spoke of a “strategic ambiguity” intended for Moscow to know that everything would be done for it. prevent us from “winning this war”. He then explained, responding to a journalist's question: “There is no consensus today to send ground troops in an official, assumed and endorsed manner. But in dynamics, nothing should be excluded. »
“We don’t want escalation.”
But, from the United States to Germany, including the vast majority of other allies, leaders have succeeded one another to assure that there was no question of sending soldiers to Ukrainian soil, offering an image of division in the western camp. Vladimir Putin once again warned of a “threat of nuclear conflict” in the event of escalation. “We do not want an escalation, we have never been in cobelligerency,” the French president responded remotely from Prague.
He also felt that Europe was entering a moment “where it would be appropriate not to be cowardly”, as a warning to its Western allies. “We never want to see the tragedies that come”, but “we will have to live up to history and the courage it implies”, he warned, in the morning, to the French community .
Mr. Macron will also sign with the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, a 2024-2028 action plan for the bilateral strategic partnership. On February 26, in Paris, he outlined several avenues for strengthening the military support provided to the Ukrainian army, which is suffering setbacks on the front.
Purchase of ammunition outside the European Union
French foreign affairs and defense ministers will bring together their counterparts from other allied countries on Thursday by videoconference to detail these solutions, Agence France-Presse learned from diplomatic sources. Mr Macron is then due to travel to Ukraine by mid-March.
Among these options on the table is a Czech initiative to purchase ammunition outside the European Union, due to the current shortage which hampers the scope of action of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, and then deliver them to them. As early as mid-February, Petr Pavel had mentioned some 800,000 munitions, which could be sent to Ukraine “in a few weeks” if the necessary financing was gathered.
Long reserved, Mr. Macron announced that France would participate in this initiative but without quantifying its contribution, unlike other states such as the Netherlands, which promised 100 million euros. Despite the hopes of the Czech authorities, the French president did not provide an amount on Tuesday, and simply reiterated his support for this “extremely useful” mechanism. He also said he was "entirely in favor of the proposal to tax the income" from frozen Russian assets, which represents "3 to 5 billion" euros per year, "within the legal framework" of the law. international.
