French president has faced a barrage of criticism, but said his comments were “weighed, thought through and measured.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said his refusal to rule out the prospect of sending Western troops to Ukraine was intentional, despite the uproar it has provoked.
Macron swept aside the barrage of criticism he has faced in France and on the international stage and insisted his statements on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine were carefully thought out.
“These are sufficiently serious issues; every one of the words that I say on this issue is weighed, thought through and measured,” Macron told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the 2024 Olympic village near Paris. But he refused to answer any further questions on the topic.
It’s questionable that Russia can afford to win the war, their entire economy is based on supplying the fighting effort, pay outs for the families of the fallen. It’d be catastrophic for them to try and quickly shift gears back to a peacetime economic footing.
Yes, but Pukin is on a ride-or-die commitment to take Ukraine. Literally. He won’t survive looking weak and retreat.
So if Macron hopes to scare Putin into retreating, he won’t succeed, cuz he can’t retreat. Macron has to follow trough unless he too wants to look weak or undecided or whatever. It’s not as lethal in France, but it’s not good politically. So who knows where this ends. Hopefully the US gets it shit together and prevent the need for NATO boots on the ground. But I’m not entirely hopeful.
Or the fighting is drawn out so long that Putin dies before it’s over. Also a possibility.
Even if the ‘won’ the war tomorrow, they still couldn’t shift back to a peacetime footing. They’ll have an insurgency to deal with. That should have been the hard bit, not the invasion.