Stay informed with free updates
Just sign up to War in Ukraine myFT Digest: delivered straight to your inbox.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said that sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine “cannot be ruled out” and that Paris would drop its long-standing opposition to buying emergency artillery supplies for Ukraine from non-EU countries.
Arguing that Russia’s defeat was necessary to ensure the “collective security of Europe”, Macron said Monday’s meeting of 25 European leaders in Paris underlined a new depth of Western determination to help Ukraine, after several of two years of full-scale war in Russia. Village.
“We will do everything necessary so that Russia cannot win the war,” he told reporters.
Asked whether sending Western troops to Ukraine was an option, Macron said the issue was discussed at the conference.
“Today there is no consensus on officially sending troops to the ground. But in terms of options, nothing can be ruled out,” he added, without providing details on which countries are considering such a step.
Macron said the leaders had agreed to create a “coalition” of countries that will discuss supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles and bombs.
France and the United Kingdom last year donated dozens of Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, and similar coalitions have already been established for artillery, air defense and maritime warfare.
The more aggressive stance follows Ukraine’s calls for an increase in Western support to help stem a growing barrage of Russian attacks that have seen Moscow gain territory in the country’s east after months of battlefield stalemate.
European countries are also increasingly concerned about the risk that the possible return of former US President Donald Trump to the White House could lead to a reduction in Washington’s support for Ukraine and a weakening of America’s defense pact with ‘Europe.
There is also a sense in European capitals that Russia poses a broader threat, not just in Ukraine, and could even invade NATO member states in Eastern Europe.
Macron expressed these concerns at the opening of the conference attended, among others, by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Estonian leader Kaja Kallas.
“I noticed that more or less all the countries represented around this table said. . . that the common consensus was that we should be ready, within a few years, for Russia to attack these countries,” Macron said.
The French reversal on artillery purchases is a sign of how events on the battlefield have forced a rethink of policies.
Kiev forces began rationing the use of artillery due to limited Western supplies. U.S. aid is hampered by infighting in Congress and European arms makers are unable to ramp up production fast enough to cover the gap.
Macron said France would join the Czech Republic-led initiative to make emergency purchases of artillery shells for Ukraine from non-EU countries.
This policy change signals that France will drop its previous objections to using shared EU funds to buy artillery from suppliers outside the bloc, unlocking hundreds of millions of euros in additional funding.
Paris had previously called for all the money the EU spent on arming Ukraine to be invested in European defense production, in order to simultaneously expand the continent’s limited production capabilities. Decisions on spending shared EU funds on armaments require unanimity among the bloc’s member states.
Referring to the need to secure more ammunition, Macron admitted that Europe simply could not produce enough at the speed needed, so it would turn to other countries.
“We will mobilize bilateral and multilateral financing,” he said.
On its initiative, the Czech Republic has identified around 800,000 artillery shells that could be immediately purchased outside the EU and has offered to buy, ship and deliver them to Ukraine if it can raise the necessary financing.
Prague is seeking up to $1.5 billion for the project, officials told the Financial Times. In recent days the Czechs approached officials in Brussels to see if up to 300 million euros of unspent EU funds intended for the purchase of artillery for Ukraine could be paid, but were rejected. based on France’s previous objections.
Separately, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after the conference that around 15 countries had shown interest in contributing to the initiative, without naming them.
“A number of states in the midst of negotiations have joined the initiative,” he told reporters.
Rutte confirmed that the Netherlands is among them and will contribute 100 million euros to the proposal. “I hope other countries follow,” she said.