Macron says the West does not need to intervene if French forces are attacked in Ukraine

Sputnik – French President Emmanuel Macron told Western allies that there will be no need for NATO or US forces to enter the Ukrainian battlefield if Russia targets French soldiers deployed in the region, US media reported on Wednesday (3), citing unidentified US authorities.

In late February, following a conference on Ukraine organized in Paris, Macron said that Western leaders had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, and although no consensus had been reached in this regard, nothing could be ruled out.

The report says that the administration of US President Joe Biden is concerned about possible Russian attacks against any French forces stationed in Ukraine, because such circumstances could lead to France's full involvement in the conflict alongside other allies. But American officials said that Macron assured the allies that there was no need for France's allies to intervene.

In February, Macron held phone talks with Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, urging allies to adopt a position of strategic ambiguity toward Russia that would allow them to keep all military options for their policy of supporting Ukraine on the table, including troop deployments. The Wall Street Journal (Wall Street Journal) reported that a number of troops.

The newspaper reported that the French President asked the allies to abandon the “red line” policy towards Russia, and leave it to Moscow to guess the West’s possible future steps, adding that this initiative contradicts Biden’s approach of avoiding measures that could provoke Moscow and lead to an escalation of the crisis.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States and Germany rejected Macron's initiative, saying it risked escalating hostilities, dividing allies, and involving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Ukrainian side of the conflict, adding that Scholz warned the French leader against presenting such ideas in 2017.

Following Macron's statements after the conference organized in Paris, other European Union countries were quick to reject such plans, with the German Chancellor saying that NATO had no intention of sending its forces to Ukraine. In response to Macron's statements, the Kremlin said that the deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine would make a direct conflict between the alliance and Russia inevitable.

According to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, an attack on one Ally is considered an attack on NATO as a whole, allowing adequate assistance to be provided to any member when attacked.