President Emmanuel Macron again raised, Thursday, in an interview in the weekly “The Economist”, the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. An outing that Russia did not appreciate. In response, Moscow summoned the French ambassador to denounce Paris’ “provocative” policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
“Due to increasingly bellicose statements from the French authorities and the receipt of information indicating France’s growing involvement in the conflict over Ukraine, French Ambassador Pierre Lévy was summoned” , indicated Russian diplomacy, adding that “the Russian side presented its principled assessment of Paris’ destructive and provocative line, which leads to an escalation of the conflict.”
According to the Kremlin, “the attempts of the French authorities to create a kind of strategic ambiguity for Russia, with their irresponsible statements about the possible sending of Western contingents to Ukraine, are doomed to failure.” Before warning: “The objectives and missions of the special military operation in Ukraine will be achieved,” the press release concludes.
Moscow nuclear exercises
In this interview with the weekly The Economist, Emmanuel Macron assumed his position on the possible sending of troops to Ukraine. “If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request (which is not the case today) we should legitimately ask ourselves the question,” explained the French president.
These comments follow the controversy at the end of February by affirming that the sending of Western armed forces to Ukrainian soil should not “be excluded” in the future. At the time, most European countries, as well as the United States, stood out sharply, although some have since taken a step in its direction.
Moscow, for its part, has already provided a response by announcing the upcoming holding of nuclear exercises near Ukraine, in reaction to “threats” made according to it by Western leaders. For Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov this would de facto pit “NATO soldiers against the Russian army”.