French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested again that Western troop deployment may become necessary in Ukraine, in an interview published by Le Parisien on Saturday evening.
"Perhaps there will be a need for ground operations at some point to counter Russian forces," he stated in the discussion that took place on Friday, following his return from Berlin. He was there meeting with German and Polish leaders. "The power of France is that we can do it," he added.
Macron's shift has coincided with the Russian presidential elections this weekend, and the increasing feeling in Europe that the US is not a reliable ally in the Ukraine war, particularly with the possible return of Donald Trump.
In the German capital on Saturday, Macron met Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, to mark the unity between the three countries. Macron’s continuous hinting at the potential dispatch of troops to Ukraine has stirred unease among Paris’s allies, most notably Germany.
In his discussion with Le Parisien, Macron dismissed the notion of a dispute between France and Germany on this matter. "I wanted to come to Germany quickly to prevent any debate on strategic divergences: they don’t exist," he clarified.
"There has never been any quarrel between the Chancellor and myself. We have a broad consensus on the objectives and the situation. It’s just the manner of conveying these that differs," he continued.
"Germany has a strategy of great caution and non-intervention, and they keep a distance from nuclear power," he explained. "This is a very different model compared to France, which possesses nuclear weapons and has maintained and strengthened a professional army," he concluded.
