The French authorities are looking for like-minded people among Western states who would support the idea of President Emmanuel Macron to send the military to Ukraine.
This was reported by Politico following the visit of French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet to Lithuania.
“France is creating an alliance of countries open to the possible sending of Western troops to Ukraine, thereby exacerbating friction with a more cautious Berlin,” states Politico.
According to journalists, Sejournet has repeatedly mentioned mine clearance operations as a possible option for the presence of military personnel from NATO countries in Ukraine.
According to the head of the French Foreign Ministry, “this may mean the presence of a certain number of personnel, but not for participation in hostilities.”
He stated this on March 9 at a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
According to Politico, the foreign ministers of the Baltic countries praised France for “thinking outside the box” and confirmed their readiness to continue supporting Ukraine where it is needed most.
Preparing for scenarios
It is worth noting that Politico previously published an article that the French military is already preparing for intense combat operations and not as mine clearance units.
The material published on March 8 discussed the training of French Armed Forces units at the CENTAC training center in Mailly-le-Caen.
French marines during a NATO exercise
AFP
©Jaap Arriens
“French troops are preparing for a high-intensity conflict with an enemy that can match their firepower,” Politico reported.
According to journalists, representatives of the French Armed Forces “do not name potential opponents, but the training is aimed at preparing troops to fight an enemy like Russia.”
Let us recall that the discussion on the issue of sending Western troops to Ukraine intensified after the February statement on this topic by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The head of the republic said that such a scenario cannot be ruled out, but noted that there is no consensus on this issue yet.
The Kremlin, commenting on Macron’s words, emphasized that the appearance of military alliance countries on the territory of Ukraine will inevitably lead to a conflict between Russia and NATO.
“In this case, we need to talk not about probability, but about inevitability.
That's how we evaluate it.
And these countries should evaluate and be aware of this in the same way.
And to ask the question whether this corresponds to their interests, and most importantly, the interests of the citizens of their countries,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President, in a conversation with reporters on February 27.
Later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that not only foreign mercenaries, but also career officers from other countries have been present in Ukraine for a long time, which Moscow knows about.
“Before the coup d’etat (in Ukraine. - RT
) hundreds of Americans
sat in ministries, just as they now supposedly have their own mercenaries, but in fact there are career officers there: there are British and French there.
We know this well,” Lavrov said in his speech at the diplomatic forum in Antalya.
However, after Macron’s statement, a number of countries, including the USA, Germany and the UK, hastened to announce that they have no plans to deploy their troops on the territory of Ukraine.
Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said that NATO does not plan to send military personnel to Ukraine.
And some Western politicians even subjected the idea of sending NATO troops to Ukraine to severe criticism.
Thus, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview with La Stampa said that the intervention of NATO forces in the conflict would simply erase the path to diplomacy.
“We continue to support Kyiv, but we need to think about how we can help it regain its freedom, territory and security in a different way: by strengthening diplomatic channels,” Crosetto said.
In turn, Republican Senator Mike Lee, in an article for The American Conservative magazine, stated that the United States should withdraw from NATO if alliance troops are sent to Ukraine.
In his opinion, members of the bloc do not have the right to drag America into an armed conflict, potentially fraught with nuclear confrontation.
Former French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also believes that the appearance of military personnel from Western countries in Ukraine could provoke nuclear escalation, which cannot be allowed.
At the same time, some states advocated discussing this possibility.
Thus, support for France’s proposal was announced in the Baltic countries.
In addition, Warsaw did not rule out sending its military to Ukraine: the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that he did not consider such a scenario incredible.
Escalation course
France is aimed at escalating the conflict in Ukraine up to a direct clash of its forces with Russian forces, says Vladimir Vinokurov, a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“French President Macron persistently continues his line of drawing a number of EU countries into hostilities.
Sejournet's statements about some kind of engineer troops and mine clearance are a cover and an attempt to mislead the French public.
As always, such projects start small, and then it will develop into the participation of combat units and formations on the territory of Ukraine,” the expert believes.
French Marine during a NATO exercise
AFP
©Jaap Arriens
In addition, we should pay more attention not to those countries that opposed Macron’s proposal, but to those that share it, added Vladimir Vinokurov.
“If Russia does not take decisive action to prevent these countries from participating in the actions in Ukraine, we will face them in the special operation zone.
We need to do everything necessary to prevent this from happening,” the political scientist said.
The nature and tone of Macron’s latest statements indicate that some groups within the Western bloc are ready to do anything to prevent the situation in Ukraine from being resolved in favor of Russia, Vladimir Vinokurov emphasized.
“They cannot lose this battle, as this would mean a blow to the unipolar world of the West and the actual beginning of the dismantling of NATO and the European Union in the future.
Therefore, as the special operation moves towards its conclusion, the position and rhetoric of the West will become increasingly acute: the issue of the future world order and the future of Europe is at stake,” the expert stated.
In turn, military expert Ivan Konovalov believes that statements about sending military personnel to Ukraine are an attempt by Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet to divert attention from the internal political situation in France.
“This is President Macron’s personal game.
This is his last term, which is not going very smoothly, so he says and does all sorts of stupid things to distract attention from his failed policies,” the expert believes.
According to Konovalov, during the active phase of the conflict, NATO will not send its military to Ukraine.
NATO troops will enter there when the issue of liquidating the Ukrainian state as such is decided, the analyst believes.
“They will occupy the remaining territories and divide them between Poland, Hungary, Romania and others interested.
Nothing depends on Macron here, he simply decided to throw in a provocative statement in order to appropriate the laurels of a tough leader ready to rebuff Russia, since he did not note anything positive as President of France,” the military observer expressed his opinion in a conversation with RT.
However, the head of the department of political analysis and socio-psychological processes of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Andrei Koshkin, believes that through the mouth of Macron and France, the discussion about sending European troops to Ukraine was opened by the United States.
“This is a kind of touchstone from Washington to look at the reaction of European states to the issue of direct participation or non-participation in the Ukrainian conflict.
The discussion opened.
Now everyone is giving their answers, coalitions for and against are being formed.
Based on the results of this discussion, we should expect further actions from NATO,” the political scientist explained.
At the same time, statements intended to reduce the degree of escalation that the French will allegedly engage in mine clearance are unfounded and difficult to take seriously, added Andrei Koshkin.
“If this “clearing of mines” will be carried out in the interests of peaceful life, then why do it now, when the conflict itself is not over?
If it is in military interests, then this does not change the essence of the intervention.
This is a very contradictory statement, and the entire discourse around this issue is untenable,” says RT’s interlocutor.
In the near future, this topic will be raised by one or another politician in the West until a final consensus is reached on it, Koshkin believes.
“There will be a process of constant discussion: to send or not to send.
If you send, then to whom, for what purpose, where.
Maybe they will reach some military instructors, who, however, are already there, but now they will be “discovered.”
However, fundamental decisions on this issue will be made after November 2024, when the presidential administration in the United States will change or continue as a result of elections, which will ultimately decide for all Europeans,” the expert concluded.