[Jimbuna]

France to send troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through front lines

Emmanuel Macron has said he would be prepared to send troops to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin's forces break through the front lines - further raising the risk of NATO forces clashing with Russia's armies. In an interview published today, the French president said the issue of sending troops would 'legitimately' arise if Kyiv and president Volodymyr Zelensky made such a request.

The Economist said Macron gave the interview after delivering a keynote speech last week where he declared that Europe is 'mortal' and could 'die' partly due to the threat posed by Russian aggression after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It also came as Russia claimed its forces had taken another town in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, with Moscow's armies continuing to push against Kyiv's defences.

Russia is rushing to advance against struggling Ukrainian forces ahead of the long-awaited arrival of the bulk of US weapons to the front for Kyiv's outgunned troops. 'I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,' Macron said when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops that sent shockwaves around Europe. Such a move would see NATO troops go head-to-head with those in the Russian army, dramatically increasing the risk of an escalation.

What's more, some analysts believe that Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine. Macron said 'if Russia decided to go further, we will in any case all have to ask ourselves this question' of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a 'strategic wake-up call for my counterparts'. He described Russia as 'a power of regional destabilisation' and 'a threat to Europeans' security'. 'I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine,' Macron said. 'If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe,' he warned. 'Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?'

Under NATO's Article 5, all members are obliged to defend others in the case of an armed attack. Should Russia directly attack a NATO member, then the U.S., the UK, France and Germany are among those who would be expected to respond. Any such conflict risks growing into a global war, the like of which has not been seen since the end of the Second World War. The release of the interview came as Moscow's defence ministry said troops had 'fully liberated the settlement of Berdychi.' Kyiv said it had retreated from the village, northwest of the Moscow-held town of Avdiivka, over the weekend.
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