MOSCOW, April 4 Statements by French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible sending French troops to Ukraine is unacceptable, especially in the context of the tense military-political situation in Europe, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko said in an interview.
“»The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly commented on the recent statements of the French president about the possible sending of military personnel from alliance member countries to the combat zone. I repeat that these ideas were immediately disavowed at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and in Washington, and in most other capitals of the states bloc. However, these statements indicate a readiness to follow the path of escalation in conditions when the West itself is suffering a strategic defeat “on the ground.” Such “stuffing,” no matter what foreign or domestic political goals they pursue, are unacceptable for responsible politicians, especially in the context of the already tense military-political situation in Europe,” Grushko said.
He noted that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg himself “has repeatedly stated that the alliance is not at war with Russia and is not a party to the conflict around Ukraine.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in February that the EU had agreed to create a “ninth coalition for deep strikes” — supplying Ukraine with medium- and long-range missiles. He also said that France will do everything to prevent Russia “from winning this war.” According to him, the leaders of Western countries have discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, a consensus has not yet been reached, “but nothing can be ruled out.” During a meeting with opposition leaders in early March, Macron reiterated that France “has no limits and no red lines” on the issue of assistance to Ukraine.
Macron's words were sharply criticized by a number of NATO partners, including Germany, as well as political forces in France itself. The leaders of all political parties accused the president of dragging Paris into the conflict, of frivolity, and also reproached him for not consulting parliament on these issues.
The Kremlin later stated that they paid attention to Macron’s words that the topic of sending military personnel to Ukraine was discussed in Europe, and his position on inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine is also well known to Moscow. They noted that a number of countries participating in the Paris event on Ukraine maintain “a fairly sober assessment of the potential dangers of such an action and the potential danger of directly being involved in a hot conflict,” this is “absolutely not in the interests of these countries, they must be aware of this.”