Thursday, March 6, 2025 -French President, Emmanuel Macron has warned that Europe was “entering a new era,” and that it would be “folly” to remain a “spectator” to the threat from Russia.
He said that France will consider extending the protection of its
nuclear arsenal to its allies, while warning that Europe needs to be ready for
the United States to not “remain by our side” in the Ukraine-Russia war.
“I’ve decided to open the strategic debate on the protection by our
deterrence of our allies on the European continent,” he said in a live
broadcast on his official social media channels, during which he stressed the
need for Europe to continue assisting Ukraine and strengthen its own defense.
“Our nuclear deterrence protects us, it is complete, sovereign, French
from end to end,” Macron said of France’s nuclear arsenal. “This protects us
much more than many of our neighbors.”
“Whatever happens, the decision has always remained and will remain in
the hands of the president of the Republic, commander of the military,” Macron
added.
“The United States, our ally, has changed its position on this war, is
less supportive of Ukraine and is casting doubt on what will happen next,”
Macron said, adding: “I want to believe that the United States will remain by
our side, but we need to be ready if that were not the case.”
Although France remains committed to both NATO and its partnership to
the US, it needs to “do more” to strengthen its own “independence in matters of
defense and security,” Macron said.
He announced he would invite European leaders to a meeting in Paris next
week to work on a plan to deliver a “durable peace,” which may include
deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine “once peace has been signed” to
prevent Russia from re-invading.
His comments come after Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich
Merz, advocated for talks with France and the United Kingdom - Europe’s two
nuclear powers - to extend their nuclear protection.
Macron has accepted this idea before, telling Portuguese TV station RTP
last month: “If my [fellow European leaders] want to proceed towards greater
autonomy and a capacity for deterrence, well we must open that discussion.”
In an interview with French newspaper, Le Parisien, he said; “Europeans who wish to deepen dialogue with us [on the question of nuclear deterrence] could … be involved with [the French military’s] deterrence exercises.”
The Wednesday speech came days after Macron met with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a critical
summit, following the disastrous show-down between Zelensky and US President
Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
A small number of nations are working together on a plan to stop the
fighting, which would then be presented to the US, Starmer said.
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