2024-03-05 20:48:32
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Visiting Prague on Tuesday, the French president “fully accepted” his controversial comments on the possibility of sending Western troops to this country at war.
Emmanuel Macron judged Tuesday in Prague “necessary” to shake up Ukraine’s allies, whom he urged to “not to be cowards” facing Russia “unstoppable”ensuring “to assume” his controversial comments on the possibility of sending Western troops to this country at war. “If every day we explain what our limits are” facing Russian President Vladimir Putin who, for his part, “has none”, “I can already tell you that the spirit of defeat is there lurking”warned the French head of state in the Czech Republic.
“I fully assume responsibility” the “strategic surge which I called for”he insisted during a press conference, believing that Europe “needed” of “clarity” of his words. Even if it means shaking up your allies? “I think it’s necessary.” car “if we are passive”, “the risk we run is to suffer”he then told a few journalists at the end of the visit, calling for “regain initiative”. Czech President Petr Pavel gave him his support, saying “supportive of exploring new options, including a debate on a potential presence in Ukraine”without however crossing the “Red line” of the deployment of “fighting troops”.
A satisfaction which contrasts with the trouble sown by Emmanuel Macron when on February 26, at the end of an international conference in Paris, he mentioned a “strategic ambiguity” so that Moscow knows that everything will be done to prevent it from “win this war”. He then explained that sending Western soldiers to Ukraine could not “be excluded” in the future, even if he had recognized that there was no «consensus» at present. From the United States to Germany, the vast majority of other allies took turns to distance themselves from these comments and ensure that there was no question of sending soldiers to Ukrainian soil, presenting an image of division from the western camp. Tuesday evening, a White House spokesperson drove home the point by specifying that Ukrainian President Zelensky had not “never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country.”
Germany did not appreciate Emmanuel Macron’s comments
Vladimir Putin warned of “real threat” of nuclear war in the event of escalation. “We don’t want escalation”the French president responded remotely from Prague.
But he also warned of the risk of blindness to “the dramas that come”. “We will have to live up to History and the courage it implies”he warned, believing that Europe was entering a moment “where it will be appropriate not to be cowards”.
The warning was not appreciated by Germany, already after a series of recent tensions on the Ukrainian issue. “We don’t need (…) discussions about having more or less courage”reacted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. “It doesn’t really help solve the problems” of Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron assured that Berlin was not particularly targeted. “It targets everyone”he said.
A Czech initiative
The French leader, who is due to go to Ukraine by mid-March, seems increasingly to want to impose his leadership in supporting Kiev and the standoff with Russia. A week ago in Paris, he outlined several avenues for strengthening the military support provided to the Ukrainian army, which is suffering setbacks on the front.
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French foreign and defense ministers will bring together their counterparts from other allied countries on Thursday by videoconference to detail these solutions. Among them is a Czech initiative aimed at purchasing ammunition outside the European Union, due to the current shortage which complicates the lives of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, and then delivering it 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 funding ($1.5 billion, according to the Financial Times) was gathered.
Long reserved, Emmanuel Macron announced last week that France would participate in this initiative. But he has not yet quantified his contribution on Tuesday, dampening the hopes of the Czech authorities.
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