French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to deploy troops from NATO countries in Ukraine, but only after a peace agreement is signed, UNIAN reported, citing his interview with RTL.
Macron said that after a ceasefire agreement is signed between Kiev and Moscow, there are plans to deploy “security forces” away from the front lines, in cities such as Kiev or Odessa.
These peacekeeping forces will include British, French and Turkish military personnel, whose task will be to train Ukrainian forces and ensure security – similar to how NATO countries are already helping countries on the alliance's eastern flank.
Macron stressed that this would be done within the framework of an intergovernmental coalition, not within NATO, and that approximately twenty countries were ready to contribute - by land, sea or air. Macron also stressed that “there cannot be a sustainable peace if the Ukrainian army is limited in its ability to defend itself and deter any aggression“.
Macron said that the French people should not panic because no French troops would be sent while fighting was taking place in Ukraine. Furthermore, the planned deployment of French troops would be far from the front lines.
The French president also commented on the use of frozen Russian assets. Macron said that “Europeans will have to decide“ how to use frozen Russian assets that US President Donald Trump proposes in his plan to invest in American projects for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron also called for more decisiveness towards Russia, which is taking an "increasingly aggressive position". "If we are too weak in Ukraine, if we say that this is no longer our problem, because after all they (Ukraine and Russia) are too far away, we will abandon Ukraine," the French president warned. "And on this very day you are showing weakness towards Russia, which for 10 years has made a strategic choice, which is to become an imperial power again and to advance in all directions," the French leader said.