Le Monde: French authorities have been discussing sending troops to Ukraine since summer 2023
According to Macron, Putin understands only the language of force
The French authorities began considering sending their soldiers to Ukraine last summer.
Source. Le Monde writes about it.
Initially, this issue was raised at a meeting of the Security Council at the Elysee Palace on 12 June, after President Emmanuel Macron publicly called for Ukraine's early accession to NATO.
According to the newspaper's sources, the option of sending troops was discussed in "strict secrecy".
"The role of the military is to prepare as many options as possible to help the president of the republic make a political and military decision," explained French Army Chief of Staff Pierre Schill.
According to him, Macron's statement on 26 February that EU countries could send their troops to Ukraine in the future should not be seen as an "impromptu escalation of the situation".
"This is, first and foremost, a political and strategic message to Russia, a signal of readiness and long-term commitment. <...> Ukraine must not lose. This is our mission and our interest," Schill said.
One of the diplomats said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden were "stunned" by Macron's statement.
Since the end of 2023, Ukrainian troops have been losing ground in the war with Russia, and this is a concern for France, the newspaper writes. According to sources in the Elysee Palace, Macron knows that Vladimir Putin "understands only the language of force". He came to this conclusion after numerous telephone conversations with the Russian president at the beginning of the invasion.
According to people close to Macron, the realisation that Putin was stuck in his belligerent logic was gradual.
"Call after call at the Elysee Palace emphasised that the Kremlin leader no longer formulates a strategic goal. The conversations are going in circles. Calls became less frequent when civilians were found dead on the streets of Bucha, whose bodies remained there after the hasty withdrawal of Russian troops in March 2022," the source said.
As a result, Macron, who once wanted to act as a mediator to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, abandoned this idea in the autumn of 2022 after "a final exchange of views with Putin on ensuring the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant" occupied by Russian troops.
Background. Earlier, the media reported that Macron was ready to send the army to Ukraine if the frontline breaks through to Odesa or Kyiv.
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