Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that statements by French leader Emmanuel Macron about sending troops to Ukraine may be an attempt to divert public attention from internal problems.

“If someone wants to slightly cover up internal political problems with their aggressive foreign rhetoric, this is a well-known and frequently used technique throughout the world,” the head of state said as part of the press approach.

Answering a journalist’s question about whether a direct conflict between Russia and NATO is possible against the backdrop of Macron’s statements, Vladimir Putin did not rule out such a development.

At the same time, the president emphasized that this would put the world on the brink of a third world war.

“I think anything is possible in the modern world.

But I have already said - and this is clear to everyone - this will be one step away from a full-scale third world war.

I think that hardly anyone is interested in this,” said the Russian leader.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin

  • RIA News

  • © Sergey Guneev

At the same time, he recalled that military personnel from NATO countries are de facto already present in Ukraine.

“Armed military personnel from NATO countries are present there, we know.

We hear both French speech there and English speech.

There is nothing good in this, especially for them.

Because they die - and in large numbers,” said the Russian President.

Macron's last term

Let us recall that earlier the French President spoke about the possible sending of French troops to Ukraine.

In one of the last statements on this topic, the head of the Fifth Republic noted that France “will never go on the offensive and will not take the initiative.”

At the same time, he added that “no options should be ruled out.”

If Macron really tried to improve his rating with such rhetoric, then he achieved the opposite results.

His support level has dropped over the past month, according to an IFOP poll.

Thus, in total, 72% of the French are dissatisfied with Macron’s work and only 28% are satisfied.

In February, dissatisfaction with the policies of the French President was 1 percentage point lower.

  • Emmanuel Macron

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  • © Ebrahim Noroozi

As indicated in the release of the sociological service, in March Macron also faced an increase of 4 percentage points.

shares of “very dissatisfied” people.

In addition, the IFOP emphasized that “a significant event of this month was the extremely sharp dissatisfaction with Emmanuel Macron’s statements on the issue of sending troops to Ukraine.”

According to Nikolai Topornin, director of the Center for European Information, associate professor at MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Macron’s generally high anti-rating is explained by France’s internal problems.

“The French have a negative attitude towards Macron because of the pension reform and unsuccessful social reforms.

However, these ratings no longer affect anything, since this is his last term as president,” the expert said in a conversation with RT.

It is worth noting that a decline in ratings has also been observed for French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was appointed to this post two months ago.

According to IFOP, 55% of French people are dissatisfied with the work of the prime minister, while 45% are satisfied with his actions.

In February, these figures were 52% and 48%, respectively.

NATO split

As political commentator Armelle Charrière stated on France 5 TV channel, Macron’s aggressive statements aroused concern among the French - citizens of the country began to wonder whether they would have to send their children to Ukraine.

According to her, sending soldiers to Ukraine would mean a direct clash between the French army and the Russian Armed Forces and the risk of starting a war between two nuclear powers.

At the same time, Charrière doubted that France is ready to take such a step today.

She is convinced that if the French president really decided to send troops to Ukraine, he would not talk about it openly.

“The French position today is an extremely militant, decisive position, but the problem is to be able to back it up with action,” Charrière emphasizes.

In this context, the French political scientist drew attention to the economic problems of Europe and the inability of the EU defense industry to resume production to provide Ukraine with shells.

Against this background, Russia, according to her, is a persistent and decisive state, whose management system today looks more effective than the European one.

Under these conditions, the West made a mistake by ruling out the possibility of Moscow’s victory from the very beginning, Charrière pointed out.

Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the left-wing party “Insubordinate France,” believes that Macron’s position has caused a split in NATO, since a number of alliance states have declared that they have no intention of sending their troops to the territory of Ukraine.

In this regard, Bompard called the French leader's statements irresponsible and counterproductive.

“The search for an external enemy is proceeding according to a radical scenario”

According to analysts, Macron's statements about sending troops to Ukraine could indeed be an attempt to divert the attention of the French population from internal problems.

“I partly agree with this assessment.

The internal situation in France is now very difficult.

Therefore, the search for an external enemy there is proceeding according to a radical scenario,” said Dmitry Evstafiev, a professor at the Institute of Media at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, candidate of political sciences, in a conversation with RT.

  • French farmers protest

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  • © Thomas Padilla

In turn, the head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Vadim Kozyulin, believes that this goal was still not the main one for Macron when he decided to “throw” the topic of sending troops into the information space.

“I don’t think that distracting attention was the main goal, but Macron probably took this into account too.

But in general, he seeks to shape his own (foreign policy -

RT

) agenda and promote his own narratives.

This is what he is doing,” the specialist said in a conversation with RT.

The analyst also states that such rhetoric does not find understanding in French society.

“Macron’s initiatives are causing discontent both in NATO and in French society.

Macron generally pursues an inconsistent policy, since at one time he called for negotiations with Moscow, but now he has taken a militant position,” says Vadim Kozyulin.

Dmitry Evstafiev shares a similar point of view.

In his opinion, the French are not ready to be directly drawn into the conflict in Ukraine.

“Macron’s ideas come with big risks.

French society realized that this is not just propaganda, that the Macron regime is taking step-by-step actions to involve France in the conflict in Ukraine.

This turned French society against him,” says the political scientist.

Analysts believe that against the backdrop of such rhetoric, Macron is unlikely to be able to take part in a diplomatic settlement in Ukraine.

“Theoretically, Macron’s inclusion in some kind of peacemaking process was possible.

However, the key word here is “was.”

Macron too aggressively and clearly outlined his anti-Russian position and intention to defeat Russia.

For him, the point of no return has been passed,” concluded Dmitry Evstafiev.