French President Emmanuel Macron said this in an interview with TF1 and France 2 on the evening of March 14, according to Yevropeiska Pravda.
The French president, explaining his abandonment of the idea of deploying troops to Ukraine, emphasized that under current circumstances, it is necessary to prevent Russia from winning the war, which "is taking place on European soil.
"What is happening in Ukraine? A war that is existential for our Europe and for France. We have set too many constraints, so to speak, in our vocabulary. We do not want escalation. We are not at war with Russia," he emphasized.
According to Macron, if France is ultimately compelled to send troops to Ukraine, "the only one who will bear responsibility is the Kremlin regime." "It won't be us. We will never initiate an offensive, we will never seize the initiative," he reassured.
"France is a force for peace. But today, in order to have peace in Ukraine, we must not be weak, and so we must look at the situation lucidly and say with determination, strong will and courage that we are ready to use all the means at our disposal to achieve our objective, which is that Russia should not win," added Macron.
On February 26, around 20 European leaders gathered in Paris to discuss the threats posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following the conclusion of the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that in the future, the deployment of Western ground forces should not be ruled out to counter Russian aggression.
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico confirmed that some NATO and EU member countries are allegedly discussing the possibility of sending their troops to the territory of Ukraine after signing bilateral agreements with Kyiv.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of Alliance countries have stated that a collective decision regarding the deployment of troops to Ukraine has not been made, while in Russia, such a step has been labeled as a declaration of war.
On February 29, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that Western leaders should not rule out the possibility of deploying ground troops to Ukraine.
On March 4, Macron stated that he would not be sending French troops to Ukraine in the near future, but he is opening debates on the matter. On March 5, Macron urged allies to "not be cowards" regarding Ukraine and to step up their efforts. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius responded to his call.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that the discussion sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks about the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine will save Europe a lot of time in realizing that more needs to be done.