French President Emmanuel Macron has declared Russia “must never be able to win in Ukraine,” and that he will consider deploying forces to the Eastern European country if Russian troops make a significant breakthrough.
“I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,” Macron said, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action to someone who no longer has any and who is the aggressor,” he argued, suggesting that “if the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request,” he would consider sending troops into the country.
“We mustn’t rule anything out, because our objective is that Russia must never be able to win in Ukraine,” he added.
ESCALATION.
France is a NATO member, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned such an action by Macron would mean not “the probability” but “the inevitability” of conflict between the Western alliance and the Russian Federation.
French intervention in Ukraine might not immediately draw all NATO, as a conflict initiated by a NATO member does not necessarily trigger its mutual defense clause. Still, both Russia and France are nuclear powers, and direct conflict between the two states would be fraught with the risk of rapid escalation.
Macron reportedly told fellow politicians in France there are “no more limits” on the possible extent of French involvement in the Ukraine war in March. In February, he refused to rule out boots on the ground in Ukraine. Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, another NATO member, revealed “a number of NATO and [European Union] member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis” the same month.
A Russian breakthrough in Ukraine appears increasingly likely. Russian forces are making significant gains along the eastern front, and enjoy a considerable artillery advantage on the battlefield.
