Erase red lines: Macron pushes Europe to hard approaches with Putin - wsj

Europeans should introduce "strategic ambiguity" in contact with Vladimir Putin. This can doubt it in which direction to move on. French President Emmanuel Macron tries to convince the European Union leaders to stop restricting themselves, acting within the imaginary "red lines". While Europeans, as well as partners from the United States, restrict themselves, Russian President Vladimir Putin is operating freely, occupying all new territories of Ukraine.

Macron first put forward the idea of ​​introducing Western troops into Ukraine and how European politicians reacted to it, the article on The Wall Street Journal. The journalists first reminded that in the first days of the invasion of the Russian Federation, Macron called Putin and listened to his explanations for the causes of war for hours. After that, the French were reproached for some time that they provide Ukraine with assistance less than other partners.

For example, France provided weapons for 635 million euros, while Germany - by 17. 7 billion euros, and the United States by 42. 2 billion euros. However, in the winter of 2024, Macron's rhetoric changed, - the authors of the article said. They described what happened on the sidelines of the EU leaders meeting, after which the politician issued a statement about the troops.

As it turned out, first the French president as a whole discussed the idea with other politicians - calling the Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden. At the same time, he explained that in order to help Ukraine it is necessary to show Putin "strategic ambiguity". "Western allies should take a strategic ambiguity on Russia, which only considers war," Macron said such words, as the sources of journalists explained.

All this time, the partners were unambiguous: they assured that they would never join the war with their army - it was a "red line", which was not planned in any case to cross. Knowing these restrictions, Putin acted according to his plans at his own discretion, without limiting himself. "The focus of the event on avoiding escalation, namely, public installation of red lines for participation in the war, gave the opposite result.

Such a strategy left France and its allies politically clamped [stated Macron - ed. The nuclear arsenal of Russia and sprinkling with artillery shells Ukraine, "WSJ wrote. On February 26, during a summit in Paris, Macron officially voiced his proposal for the introduction of troops. At the same time he explained that this would not involve other partners in the war. For example, France had already used its troops abroad, for example, in Africa, and this in no way affected military alliances.

In response, the leaders of the Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Estonia: everyone was against it, - the journalists said. However, during the break, Macron went to the press and, contrary to this resistance, stated that the possibility of introducing troops was "not excluded". The use of troops that will not participate in hostilities but will derive the mine, and will continue to be rejected by most countries in Europe, - the article reads. Meanwhile, Putin launched a propaganda campaign in the EU.

The propaganda channels of the Russian Federation spread the messages about the danger of the introduction of troops, because foreign citizens will begin to die. Another direction of "work" of propagandists is the conviction that Ukraine needs to reduce. "We are definitely approaching the moment in our Europe, when we should not be coward. The war returned to our land," Macron's phrase during a visit to the Czech Republic WSJ has completed the article.

It should be noted that in response to Macron Scholtz's statement, he explained that it would be better to focus on France - on increasing assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, the idea of ​​the possible emergence of French troops in Ukraine provoked a reaction in Russian politicians.

For example, VesesPicker of the State Duma and the propagandist Petro Tolstoy gave an interview to the French media, in which he threatened France with nuclear blow and destruction of all the military who will find themselves in Ukraine. Macron responded to Tolstoy's statement: he noted that Russian politicians were unable to hold themselves in his hands and, in addition, there is also nuclear weapons in France.

Experts tried to find an explanation why the French president changed his position on the Russian-Ukrainian war, because he used to be a supporter of negotiations with Putin. One of the versions that Focus wrote about is the rivalry from the Russian Federation in Africa, where Russian mercenaries are fighting with the legal governments of local countries.