French president has faced a barrage of criticism, but said his comments were “weighed, thought through and measured.”

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.

  • deft@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    234·
    9 months ago

    Putin filled his diaper.

    If anyone else puts troops on the ground Russia is toast they can barely shit their own pants, they couldn’t handle someone else shitting their pants too.

  • Sp00kyB00k@lemmy.worldEnglish
    171·
    9 months ago

    The thing is Russia is not going to stop. I am against war and against sending people off to the front to die. But if no one is aiding Ukraine, who is going to defend. A ceasefire is not acceptable. Did not work for any country that did sign it with Russia. See Chechnya, after the first Russia recovered and came back for blood.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      9 months ago

      If Russia takes Ukraine, they will be emboldened to go after other former USSR countries. They are having a poor showing right now, but they’re getting aid and are fully committed.

  • Hyperreality@kbin.social
    101·
    9 months ago

    Strategic ambiguity. It’s very unlikely that NATO will send combat troops to Ukraine. But suggesting that it’s a possibility, means that Russia has to prepare for that possibility, which has a cost for the Russians. They can’t focus too much on only defeating the Ukrainians, they have to hold something back just in case NATO decides to get involved.

    This whole thing is incredibly stupid.

    Even if by some miracle Russia ‘won’ in Ukraine, it’d still be a pyrrhic victory. As the Americans learnt in Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation is what’s difficult, the actual war should have been a breeze. Even the first bit wasn’t a breeze for the Russians, Russia won’t be able to afford holding on to Ukraine. It will cost them too much money and too many troops. The inevitable insurgency will grind them down.

    And thanks to the war, NATO has expanded and is drastically increasing spending. Russia has drastically increased military spending to win the war in Ukraine, but they can’t keep up with NATO. It’ll be like the Soviet Union all over again, they’ll end up spending far more than their economic base allows.

  • Dagnet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    9 months ago

    Worst part rn is that both sides got into a situation that they cannot afford to lose this war which means this will eventually escalate if one side starts getting close to victory

    • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.mlEnglish
      82·
      9 months ago

      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.

      • kvartsdan@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        2·
        9 months ago

        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.

      • Hyperreality@kbin.social
        21·
        9 months ago

        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.

  • arymandias@feddit.deEnglish
    47·
    9 months ago

    Historically low approval ratings, starts escalating a war. Where have I seen this before?