The Elysee Palace confirmed Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron would be postponing a planned visit to Ukraine which was expected to take place later this week to some time in “the coming weeks.” This is the third time in a month that Macron has pushed backed the trip, for reasons which remain unclear.
Macron made headlines in late February after hinting at the possibility of NATO troops being deployed in Ukraine to fight Russia, with Paris gradually walking back those remarks after a major backlash both in France and among other members of the NATO alliance.
“There were hypotheses clearly put on the table but not combat ground troops as may have been said here or there,” French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu assured in an interview with French television late last week, implying that Macron had been misunderstood.
“But between the transfer of arms and co-belligerence – in other words direct war with Russia – have we done everything within that space? Are there paths that we can explore? And notably paths involving a military presence Lecornu asked, suggesting that Kiev should conscript even more troops and “ramp up training” instead of expecting the West to come to its rescue.
“Macron’s verbal bravado proves the French leader is trying to be more Catholic than the Pope,” Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst and journalist, told Sputnik. “However, Pope Francis advises Ukraine to sit with Russia at the negotiating table,” the commentator pointed out.
Kasonta believes the loud “anti-Russian rhetoric” coming out of Paris regarding the Ukraine crisis comes in large part out of terror among European elites over the prospects of Donald Trump returning to power in November and somehow “disrupting” transatlantic security bonds.
“European officials are concerned that a Trump presidency will disrupt NATO, which is the main reason why we see discussions about the possibility of putting NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, and the prism of further escalation,” the observer explained. “Europe is concerned that if the US abandons it, it could become vulnerable to a possible Russian ‘invasion’. Therefore, European leaders are making empty threats directed towards Moscow.”
“On the one hand, this is an attempt to demonstrate to Trump and his supporters that Europe, under French-self-proclaimed leadership, is ‘stepping up’ and being a reliable partner. On the other hand, Europe has put itself in a position where it feels compelled to escalate further to save face. If they do not, it would mean that everything they have said and the economic turmoil they have created” (by cutting off economic ties with Russia) “was entirely unnecessary,” Kasonta said.
Ultimately, Kasonta believes that the “danger of this paranoia,” which has been “fueled by years of propaganda” against Russia poses a real threat of escalating into a hot war – possibly even going nuclear, if not tamped down.
“Some, like Germany and Finland, seem to want to avoid risking our planet’s survival. That’s why France decided to build an ‘alliance of the willing’ in the Baltics and Poland, nations traditionally known for their anti-Russian stance,” the journalist said, referring to Paris’ efforts to drum up support for its hostile rhetoric in Eastern Europe amid a backlash from France’s Western European allies.
Baltic leaders have praised Macron’s “outside of the box” thinking on the prospect of Western troops in Ukraine. “What Macron is reminding everyone and bringing again to the forefront is the sense of urgency. This is what is needed,” Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins said in a joint press conference with his Lithuanian, Estonian and Ukrainian counterparts last week.