Emmanuel Macron’s hint that Western troops could be deployed in Ukraine has triggered a furious backlash in France – with critics accusing the French President of being “irresponsible” and of “playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin”.
Speaking during a press conference on Monday, Mr Macron refused to rule out putting boots on the ground, saying there was “no consensus” on the issue, adding: “We should not exclude that there might be a need for security that then justifies some elements of deployment.”
His remark prompted nations including Britain and Germany, as well as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, to stress that there are currently no plans to do so.
And within his own country, politicians on both sides of the spectrum were likewise alarmed at his seemingly off-the-cuff comment.
Posting on X, right-winger Marine Le Pen, National Rally’s twice-defeated Presidential candidate, said: “By affirming that sending ground troops was not excluded, Emmanuel Macron took a further step towards co-belligerence.
“Mr Prime Minister, will you bring to the President of the Republic the voice of the millions of French people worried by these comments?”
Jordan Bardella, National Rally’s President, added: “By launching the hypothesis of a deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine, without consultation with our allies who disapprove of it, Emmanuel Macron exposes our divisions and our weaknesses.
“With this attitude, he unfortunately plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin.”
Eric Zemmour, another right-wing candidate defeated by Mr Macron in 2022, suggested the 43-year-old was seeking to distract from internal difficulties including high-profile tractor protests in Paris.
He said: “Emmanuel Macron does not want to scare Vladimir Putin.
“It is the French that he wants to scare, to make them forget the many trials they are going through under his reign, such as the latest one, still not resolved: the agricultural crisis.
“Our people deserve much better than to be carried from anguish to anguish, to the point of exhaustion.”
Meanwhile Eric Ciotti, President of centre-right party the Republicans, claimed the announcement of a possible “ground mobilisation” changed the very nature of the conflict.
He added: “This declaration fraught with terrible consequences by Emmanuel Macron was made without the slightest parliamentary debate.
“Is this position really well thought out?”
On the left, First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure suggested Mr Macron was “immoderately placing himself at the centre of the stage” by “posing as leader at the cost of improvisations, damaging the voice of France and provoking the division of Europeans”.
He added: “The Ukrainian resistance deserves that we keep our commitments, not irresponsible verbal escalation.”
Asked about the consequences of NATO troops being deployed in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned it would lead to direct conflict between his country and the West.
He told state-controlled news agency Tass: ”In that case, it’s not going to be about probability, but inevitability – that’s how we assess it.”
A Number 10 spokesman yesterday stressed: “Beyond the small number of personnel in-country supporting the armed forces, we do not have any plans to make large-scale deployments.”
