The option of helping Ukrainian forces with French ones was raised as early as June 12, 2023, shortly following the start of Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive, according to Le Monde.
The issue of the possible sending of French soldiers to Ukraine began to be considered in mid-2023 due to the “weakness” of the Ukrainian Army, writes the French newspaper Le Monde this Thursday (14).
Thus, following the president’s speech at the GLOSEC summit in Bratislava, on June 1, 2023, Macron would have spoken in favor of Ukraine’s early admission to NATO and the acceleration of the European Union’s enlargement process.
“At the time, Ukraine and its allies hoped that an imminent counteroffensive would allow them to push back some Russian troops. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces fell to the defense of the Russians.
During this period, the possibility of sending ground troops became an option that French authorities began to explore in the highest secrecy.
This was mentioned at the Security Council of the Élysée Palace, on June 12, 2023”, writes Le Monde. Pierre Schiel, commander-in-chief of France’s Land Forces, told the media that Macron’s statements were not an “improvised escalation.”
“The role of the Army is always to prepare as many options as possible to help with the president’s political and military decisions,” he stated. “Paris is worried regarding the weakness of the Ukrainian Army,” writes Le Monde.
After a meeting with Macron in late December, his close ally, François Bayrou, was quoted as saying that “Macron is worried, and I share his opinion. It doesn’t smell good.”
“In any case, this year I will have to send the boys to Odessa,” Macron announced to a united audience on February 21, following the burial ceremony of Missak Manouchian, a hero of the French Resistance movement during the Second World War, in Pantheon in Paris, France.
