Macron
says Russia’s permission not needed to deploy troops in Ukraine
French
president says France, UK and others could each deploy ‘a few thousand troops’
to key locations to show Ukraine ‘long-term support’
Angelique
Chrisafis in Paris
Sun 16 Mar
2025 17.13 GMT
Emmanuel
Macron has said France, the UK, and other nations providing security guarantees
for Ukraine after any eventual ceasefire would not be aiming to deploy a “mass”
of soldiers, but instead could send contingents of several thousand troops to
key locations in Ukraine without needing Russia’s permission.
The French
president told regional French newspapers, including Le Parisien and La Dépêche
de Midi, that “several European countries, and indeed non-European ones” had
“expressed their willingness” to join a possible deployment to Ukraine to
secure a future peace agreement with Russia.
He said this
could involve “a few thousand troops” from each state, deployed at “key points”
in Ukraine, to conduct training programmes and “show our long-term support”.
Macron added
in the interview on Saturday that the proposed contingents from countries that
were members of the Nato alliance would serve as “a guarantee of security” for
Ukraine and that “several European nations, and also non-European, have
expressed their willingness to join such an effort when it is confirmed”.
He added:
“Under no circumstances can the Ukrainians make territorial concessions without
having any security guarantees.”
Moscow has
firmly opposed such a deployment, but Macron said Russia’s permission was not
needed. He said Ukraine was sovereign. “If Ukraine requests allied forces to be
on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them.”
Macron will
meet the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on Monday and then travel to
Berlin on Tuesday to meet the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for talks on Ukraine
before an EU summit.
The UK prime
minister, Keir Starmer, led a virtual meeting of 30 international leaders on
Saturday including Macron and Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, as well
as leaders from Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Afterwards, Starmer
challenged the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to sign up to a ceasefire if
he was serious about peace. He said allies would keep increasing the pressure
on the Kremlin, including by moving planning for a peacekeeping force to an
“operational phase”.
Macron said
after the meeting on Saturday that Europe and the US had to put pressure on
Russia to accept a proposed ceasefire. Russia “does not give the impression it
sincerely wants peace”, Macron said in a statement to Agence France-Presse. On
the contrary, the Russian president was “escalating the fighting” and “wants to
get everything, then negotiate”, he said.
“Russia must
respond clearly and the pressure must be clear, in conjunction with the US, to
obtain this ceasefire,” Macron said.
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