Macron labels Russia 'adversary', says Ukraine must restore 'Crimea'
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French President Emmanuel Macron sets a bar for 'lasting peace' in Ukraine, claiming Crimea must return to Kiev.
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French President Emmanuel Macron talks to the media in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP)
There will be no "lasting peace" in Ukraine unless Kiev establishes control over all the territories it has lost, including Russia's Crimean Peninsula, French President Emmanuel Macron declared in an interview broadcasted by TF2 and France 2, on Thursday.
The French President also described Russia as France's "adversary", while simultaneously stressing that France is merely "supporting" Ukraine and has not been "waging war on Russia".
"Certainly, today, Russia is an adversary. The Kremlin regime is an adversary," Macron explained before adding, "We are doing everything so that it can put Russia in check because, I will tell you very simply, there is no lasting peace if there is no sovereignty, a return to the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, including Crimea."
The most recent comments from the French President were not well-received in Russia, where Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remarked that Macron apparently “won’t mind increasing the degree of his involvement” in the war in Ukraine, "Yes, it’s obvious that Russia is an adversary of France because France is already involved in the war in Ukraine; it is indirectly taking part in this war."
Polish FM says NATO troops already in Ukraine
NATO forces are already in Ukraine, said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, earlier, on March 10, who declined to elaborate.
Sikorski expressed at a gathering commemorating Poland's 25th anniversary of NATO membership that "NATO soldiers are already present in Ukraine," thanking leaders from NATO member states who purportedly supplied soldiers to Ukraine but refused to comment on the number of troops and their places of origin.
On March 8, Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stated that the presence of NATO military in Ukraine "was not unthinkable," and praised Macron's intention to send Western troops to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda stated that Poland needed to build a big airport to facilitate the transit of NATO soldiers.
Following a Ukraine summit in Paris on February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Western leaders had considered the idea of deploying soldiers to Ukraine and that while no consensus had been achieved, nothing could be ruled out.
Taking a swing at Macron, Sejourne clarified, "French people will not die for Ukraine. We will not send troops for combat."
A recently leaked German recording indicated that British soldiers were in Kiev assisting Ukrainian troops by firing long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
The leak further detailed how British forces collaborated with Ukraine on deploying Storm Shadow missiles against targets up to 150 miles behind Russian lines.
France and Poland have no authority to speak on behalf of NATO, and the alliance's engagement in the dispute would "erase the path to diplomacy," according to Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview published on Sunday by the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Other NATO members, notably the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany, responded quickly, stating that they had no such intentions. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne sought to clarify Macron's remarks, telling public station Radio France Inter last Friday that Paris would not risk endangering its citizens or a direct clash between Russia and NATO.
Read more: Paris, Warsaw cannot speak for NATO: Italian Defense Minister
