Dingo Longdon.
This week, France's Macron's "words" stirred up a thousand waves, which not only forced all relevant parties to express their positions intensively, but also brought the Russia-Ukraine conflict back to the international focus.
On February 26, local time, on the second anniversary of the comprehensive escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Macron said at the "International Conference on Support for Ukraine" held in Paris that "sending troops to Ukraine is not ruled out" and "we will do our best to prevent Russia from winning this conflict". Although Macron did not give a specific introduction to the discussion of "sending troops to Ukraine" at the meeting, it was the first time that such a strong statement had caused not only a stern warning from the Russian side, but also an uproar in the Western world.
U.S. ** Biden has made it clear that he will not send troops to fight in Ukraine; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops in Ukraine; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that European or NATO countries would not send troops to Ukraine; Croatian ** Zoran Milanovic believes that sending troops to Ukraine is a "stupid" approach; Italy's Antonio Tajani said that "we are not at war with Russia"; A spokesman for the Spanish prime minister bluntly said, "We do not agree with this proposal," ......It is not difficult to see that the European and American allies have not reached a consensus on "sending troops to Ukraine", and their statements of quickly "drawing a line" have also made Macron a "minority".
In response to Macron's tough statement, France responded that the idea was not to send a French team to Ukraine to fight the Russian army directly; French Defense Minister Sebastien Le Corny also said that the meeting discussed sending troops to Ukraine to clear mines and train the Ukrainian army, but no consensus was reached. It can be seen that the French side is also trying to "ease" the controversy caused by Macron's remarks. Could it be that Macron said the wrong thing or that his meaning was misinterpreted? Not really. China Observer Network quoted the American "Politico News Network" as reporting on February 29 that Macron told reporters during his visit to the Paris 2024 Olympic Village on the same day, "Every word I say on this issue (the Russia-Ukraine issue) has been weighed, carefully considered and carefully considered."
In fact, Macron has been "moderate" before, and has even been attacked by the West more than once for being "soft on Russia". On February 7, 2022, on the eve of the full-scale escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Macron made an urgent visit to Moscow and held talks with Putin for more than five hours. The next day, Macron rushed to Kyiv to talk with Zelensky. France** describes his shuttle diplomacy as a "diplomatic acrobatics", difficult but with a clear purpose of trying to defuse tensions. On February 25, 2022, Macron also called Putin at Zelensky's request to convey the negotiation proposal. After Russia was sanctioned by the West, Macron also repeatedly said that he would continue to communicate with Putin, "do not humiliate Russia", and "the issue of Russia's security guarantees needs to be included in the negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict".
Compared with before, Macron's remarks that "sending troops to Ukraine are not ruled out" are very tough, which surprised many people, criticizing him for "turning a little too big". Why is that? Now, according to Agence France-Presse, Macron is eager to create the most pro-Ukraine "persona" in Europe. In the past, Macron has positioned himself as a high-level mediator between Russia and Ukraine, but now his role has changed and his stance on Russia has hardened. Macron is the host of the "International Conference on Support for Ukraine", although the meeting did not reach a consensus on sending troops to Ukraine, but he announced this topic and made a reminiscent "not excluded" statement, which is also support for Ukraine to a certain extent. At the same time, Macron also mentioned that "we must have the opportunity to defend our future without relying on the United States", indicating that he has always wanted to promote Europe's strategic autonomy. This time, a tentative balloon was released on the topic of "sending troops to Ukraine", which not only shows that France is trying to become a leader in the process of changing the European security order, but also wants to force Europe and the United States to support Ukraine more firmly and more devotedly.
Prolonging the Russia-Ukraine conflict is not in the common interest of the international community. Macron's remarks that "sending troops to Ukraine are not ruled out" are obviously not conducive to promoting peace talks, but may further escalate the conflict. On February 29, local time, Russia's ** Putin delivered his annual state of the nation address to the Russian parliament, in which he warned that if Western countries send troops to Ukraine, it may trigger a nuclear war, "they think war is a cartoon"; Western politicians should recall the fate of those who invaded Russia in the past (Hitler in Nazi Germany and Napoleon in France) in the past, "and now the consequences will be even more tragic."
Judging from the current situation, Europe's continued assistance to Ukraine has been reluctant, and "sending troops" is almost impossible, but the devastating impact of Macron's remarks has already been caused, and it will not be beneficial to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.