The initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron to send troops to Ukraine was not well prepared, and NATO is not ready for this, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said on Wednesday.
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“About troops: I don’t think this initiative was very well prepared, because the discussion about it has not yet matured. Speaking about sending troops: I think we in NATO are not ready to do this,” Silinya said at a press conference with the Chancellor Germany Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
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In addition, she emphasized that Ukraine itself did not ask NATO countries to send troops, adding that there is no need to concentrate on what Kyiv does not ask.
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Macron said in February that the EU had agreed to create a “ninth coalition for deep strikes” – supplying Ukraine with medium- and long-range missiles. He also said that France will do everything to prevent Russia “from winning this war.” According to him, the leaders of Western countries have discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, a consensus has not yet been reached, “but nothing can be ruled out.” During a meeting with opposition leaders in early March, Macron reiterated that France “has no limits and no red lines” on the issue of assistance to Ukraine.
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Macron’s words were sharply criticized by a number of NATO partners, including Germany, as well as political forces in France itself. The leaders of all political parties accused the president of dragging Paris into the conflict, of frivolity, and also reproached him for not consulting parliament on these issues.
