Macron warns against imposing ‘Limits’ on support for Ukraine

• Macron stated that sending ground forces is not currently on the agenda but Europe must keep “all options” open in case the war spreads.
• He criticized the presence of “too many limits” in the European vocabulary since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
• He criticized the Kremlin chief, stating that he could not be trusted, and described Russia as an “adversary” of France.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron cautioned allies against imposing limits on support for Ukraine, emphasizing that European security was at stake in Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion. Last month, Macron shocked some allies by not ruling out sending Western troops to Ukraine, as the country faced military setbacks since the failure of a counteroffensive last summer.

In an interview with French television aimed at clarifying his policy, he stated that sending ground forces was not currently on the agenda but emphasized that Europe had to keep “all options” open in case the war spread. Macron’s comments come as he prepares to travel to Berlin on Friday for a summit on Ukraine with allies German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

He stressed his insistence that Europe should not show weakness and should do everything it could to prevent Russia from winning a war that threatened the security of ordinary French and European citizens.

“If Russia wins this war, Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero,” Macron said in an interview with French broadcasters TF1 and France 2 television.

Describing the conflict in Ukraine as “existential for our Europe and France,” Macron asserted that anyone advocating “limits” on aid to Ukraine “chooses defeat.” He criticized the presence of “too many limits in our vocabulary” since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

“Two years ago we said we would never send tanks. We did. Two years ago, we said we would never send medium-range missiles. We did,” he said.

In a post-interview statement, Macron asserted that if Russia wins its war in Ukraine, it would not halt its territorial ambitions, posing a threat to the neighboring countries of Moldova, Romania, and Poland.

“Russia has become a power that wants to expand and it will not stop there,” Macron posted on X. “If we abandon Ukraine, if we let Ukraine lose this war, Russia will surely threaten Moldova, Romania, Poland.”

Macron acknowledged that once the war ended, negotiations would need to take place but emphasized that peace did not mean the “capitulation” of Ukraine.

“Today we must have — to quote (Winston) Churchill — ‘the sinews of peace’. To want peace is not to want defeat or to let Ukraine fall,” he said, quoting the famous phrase used by the British premier in a 1946 speech in the United States shortly after World War II ended.

Macron said France has “all options” on the table in its support for Ukraine.

“Should the situation get worse, we will be ready” to prevent a Russian victory, but he also said his country would “never go on the offensive” in the war.

“We will never take the initiative,” he said.

He warned that “if Russia wins, the life of the French will change. We will have no more security in Europe.”

Macron asserted that he probably had more hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin than any other major leader in recent years, emphasizing that he could not trust the Kremlin chief.

“Who would think for a single second that President Putin, who did not respect any of his limits and engagements, would stop there?“

He described Russia as an “adversary” of France but carefully avoided using the word “enemy.”

Macron raised alarms throughout Europe last month by stating that committing ground troops to Ukraine was not ruled out. His remark received little support among allies and the French population, with an opinion poll for the daily Le Figaro indicating that 68 percent disapproved of such an announcement.

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