Macron realizes in six months it may be too late to send his troops to Ukraine — journalist Oleksa

She shared her opinions with Espreso TV.

"This is a security idea, because Macron himself acknowledged that France is lagging behind by 6-12 months in its strategic thinking and decision-making, he also said after he meets with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the international conference on Ukraine held at the Elysee Palace, what we all were saying: No tanks, no long-range weapons, no air defense, we always drew these red lines, but we, the Europeans, were the only ones who drew these lines, Russia did not escalate with its European partners in any way directly after the European partners crossed these red lines one by one," the journalist said.

She highlighted that the aid trajectory shifted significantly from its initial provision of helmets and sleeping bags in February-March 2022 to France now transferring air defense systems and SCALP missiles: "So Macron has learned from his own experience and he thinks in terms of security and knows that in 6-12 months it may be too late to start talking about sending troops, it has to be done now."

At the same time, there is a political component to the French president's actions.

"It is very important to keep in mind that Macron personifies this European leader, he wants to be one, he believes, fairly or not, that he is the one who is driving this European initiative to help Ukraine, while Olaf Scholz is becoming more and more disappointing. Although in terms of numbers, Germany seems to be winning a little bit over France, but maybe not in strategic decisions at a time when the United States has completely deflated and Macron is taking over this leadership and it is important for him to be this visionary who may lead Ukraine to victory and he will be able to put this on his record in 2027, when he will no longer be able to run for office," the journalist believes.

Oleksa reminded that 68% of French people disagreed with the president's position, as did the opposition and European partners.

"However, he continued to pull this line, and the latest example was last Saturday's interview in a daily newspaper, where he even used the phrase 'ground operations' and said that France would never initiate such an approach or such operations or sending troops. However, he does not want to reject any scenario, and so just a week ago, Macron returned to this topic again, despite the fact that several of his ministers have already explained to the population that these are not primarily combat missions, we are talking about demining and so on, but the president is clearly pushing this line," the journalist concluded.

• The vice president of the Russian State Duma threatened Paris with a nuclear strike. Macron said he was surprised by the "nervousness and intemperance of Russian officials."
• On March 23, French President Emmanuel Macron said that anyone who thinks that Russia will stop in the temporarily occupied Donbas and Crimea is mistaken.