French President Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out whether or not he will send ground forces to Ukraine. The president said that “nothing should be excluded” regarding that option during a press conference on Monday. His comments followed a meeting in Paris where members of the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) discussed new measures to send munitions to Kiev.
“We are convinced that the defeat of Russia is indispensable to security and stability in Europe,” Macron told reporters. “There’s no consensus today to send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out."
NATO allies including the US, Germany, Italy and the UK have ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine in a sweeping rejection of Macron’s comment on Monday. A White House official has also denied any plans to send either US or NATO troops to Ukraine. In a statement, the White House said that US President Joe Biden believes a Ukraine “path to victory” is by providing military aid, adding that the president has been clear that he will not send troops to fight there.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned of a direct conflict if NATO troops are deployed there. Peskov also said Macron’s suggestion is a “very important new element” adding that it was not in the interests of NATO members.
Meanwhile, Macron has also condemned protests by farmers in France as “counterproductive” after he was greeted with whistles at the Paris International Agricultural Show on Saturday. The protestors, who had broken through a police cordon earlier in the day, chanted, “Macron must resign!”
Farmers in France have been protesting since January as they demand recognition of their labor and oppose cheap agricultural imports, water use restrictions, diesel fuel price increases, as well as general growing costs in the face of environmental policies that affect the finances of their livelihood.