Former head of the Munich Security Conference, German politician Wolfgang Ischinger praised French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that Western ground troops could be deployed in Ukraine in the future.
"In the situation of such a conflict with Russia, it is fundamentally correct not to rule anything out," he said on the Welt TV channel, DW reports.
He explained that ruling out any steps "makes it easier for the enemy to prepare for what might happen".
According to Ischinger, Macron's statement that the West cannot rule out anything in the current situation is "somewhat bold, but not wrong".
At the same time, it is also true that NATO does not want to be drawn into a war between Russia and Ukraine, the diplomat went on to say.
In addition, Ischinger warned Western countries against "excessive restraint" in their actions for fear of a Russian reaction and refusal to supply certain weapons to Ukraine in order not to provoke Moscow.
In his opinion, the transfer of new weapons systems to Kyiv could be a signal to Russia.
"You are constantly bombing civilian targets across Ukraine. If you continue to do so, we will have no choice but to deliver TAURUS. And then the Russian side will be forced to respond to this red line," he said.
At the same time, the former German ambassador to the United States and Britain expressed his "deep regret" over the different positions of Berlin and Paris in resolving "the most serious strategic, military and political crisis that Europe has been facing for many years".
Disputes and disagreements between the two countries can be used by Moscow to its advantage, he stressed, and called it a "political duty" of Western countries to do everything possible to achieve a "common approach to this difficult crisis".
To recap, the French president did not rule out the possibility that Western ground forces could be deployed in Ukraine. According to Macron, "today there is no consensus on officially sending ground troops to Ukraine, but in a dynamic development, nothing can be ruled out."
In a number of other European countries, Macron's statement caused rejection. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that there was complete unanimity at the meeting in Paris that "there will be no soldiers sent there by European countries or NATO states on the territory of Ukraine".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that NATO has no plans to send troops to Ukraine.
In his turn, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas believes that if Lithuanian troops could be sent to Ukraine, it would be for training purposes only, not for military purposes. Anusauskas stressed that the main priority now is to support Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.