French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to not be ‘cowards’ in providing support to Ukraine for the war against Russia during his Prague visit.
Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), French President Emmanuel Macron told expats on his visit to Prague, the capital of Czechia, on Tuesday, that it is time for Ukraine Allies to set up as there is approaching a moment “in our Europe where it will be appropriate not to be a coward.” He added that He fully stood behind” his last week’s controversial remarks about not ruling out sending Western troops to Ukraine, which sent shockwave all around Europe.
“We are surely approaching a moment for Europe in which it will be necessary not to be cowardly,” Macron said on a visit to push a plan to buy weapons outside Europe for Ukraine. He added that the threat has become unstoppable and is spreading “every day” to European countries.
President Macron has been criticized by European Allies for discussing his idea about ‘sending Western troops’ to Ukraine at a Paris-based conference on Ukraine at a Paris-based conference on Feb 26th. Most of his allies said they would not send their military to the grounds.
Speaking after meeting his Czech counterpart, Petr Pavel, Macron asked: “Is this or is it not our war? Can we look away from the belief that we can let things run their course? I don’t believe so, and therefore I called for a strategic surge and I fully stand behind that … We want no escalation, we’ve never been belligerent.”
While talking about the Russian-Ukraine war, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Czechia were “well aware that war is back on our soil (in Europe), that some powers which have become unstoppable are extending every day their threat of attacking us even more, and that we will have to live up to history and the courage that it requires”
However, the White House reacted to his remarks that the United States had no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine and that there were also no plans to send NATO troops to fight in Ukraine. “President Zelensky isn’t asking for that, he’s just asking for the tools and capabilities. He’s never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
On the other hand, German defense minister, Boris Pistorius said Macron’s remarks were not very helpful. “We don’t need really, from my perspective at least, discussions about boots on the ground or having more courage or less courage.” He added.
Why Macron visited Czech?
Macron went on a visit to the Czech Republic to meet his opposite Petr Pavel to rapidly purchase hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds to dispatch Ukraine from outside Europe. He said, France backed the plan and also supported using earnings from frozen Russian assets in Europe to fund Ukraine’s defense while not touching the capital.
Ukraine is facing a critical shortage of artillery rounds as its troops are trying to thwart Russian forces who once again launching attacks on the east two years after its Russian full-scale invasion. Macron is on helping Ukraine while not directly exposing what he is going to initiate, said the ministers will work on that.
Background:
Last week, during a Paris-based conference, Macron said “There is no consensus at this stage … to send troops on the ground,” Macron told reporters. “Nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we must so that Russia does not win.” He added, “Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late. This was the objective of this evening’s discussion: everything is possible if it is useful to achieve our objective,” he said, adding that Europe should not depend on the United States to fight in Ukraine.
However, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reacted to his marks while opposing military aid to Ukraine, said, “I can confirm there are countries that are prepared to send their own troops to Ukraine, there are countries that say never, among which Slovakia belongs, and there are countries that say this proposal needs to be considered,”
