PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday France must not be “weak” faced with the threat from Russia, while emphasizing it had no intention of “sending our young people” to fight in the Ukraine war.
“We would be wrong to show weakness in the face of this threat. If we want to protect ourselves, we French — which is my sole concern — we must demonstrate that we are not weak against the power that threatens us the most,” he told RTL radio in an interview.
Macron is expected to make an announcement later this week on a voluntary form of military service, after France scrapped compulsory service in 1997.
He told RTL he would be announcing a “transformation of national service into a new form” on Thursday, but did not provide further details.
A source with knowledge of the matter, speaking anonymously because not allowed to speak to the press, has told AFP that the plan is for 2,000 to 3,000 people to be trained up in the first year, aiming to increase those signing up over time to 50,000 per year.
Macron however stressed that France had no intention of sending its youth to the frontlines.
“It is absolutely necessary, at least immediately, to dispel any confused idea suggesting that we are going to send our young people to Ukraine,” he said.
France’s top general last week caused alarm after warning that the country must be ready to “lose its children” against the background of the threat posed by Russia. AFP
Macron said the comments had been “deformed” and “taken out of context”.
“Soldiers who sign up make sacrifices, but to tell all French people that they are going to be sacrificed, that makes no sense,” he said.
Macron spoke ahead of a planned video call between the 30 countries of the so-called “coalition of the willing” supporting Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon.
If the war sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine ends in a ceasefire, the coalition aims to send a multinational force to deter any other Russian attack.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said a US plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia had elements worth discussing but warned against any “capitulation” by Kyiv, in an interview broadcast Tuesday.
“We want peace. But not a peace that is in essence a capitulation, which puts Ukraine in an impossible situation, which gives Russia all the freedom to continue to go further, including to other European (countries) and putting everyone’s security in danger,” Macron told RTL radio.
He said the American plan for ending the conflict sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion of its neighbour was a step “in the right direction” with “elements” that should be “discussed, negotiated, improved”.
“What is put on the table gives us an idea of what is acceptable for the Russians,” he said, stressing that Ukrainians were the “only ones” who could agree to terms set out in the plan.
“No one can say for the Ukrainians what territorial concessions they are willing to make,” he said, speaking ahead of a video conference later Tuesday with the leaders of Ukraine’s main European allies to discuss the proposal.
Washington’s 28-point plan initially hewed close to Russia’s hardline demands, requiring Ukraine to cede territory, cut its military and pledge never to join NATO.
An updated version, aiming to “uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty”, was thrashed out over the weekend at emergency talks in Geneva.
The plan also foresees using Russian assets frozen in Europe in US-led projects to rebuild Ukraine after the war. But Macron insisted it was up to Europeans to decide what to do with the funds.
“The Europeans are the only ones to have say” on this issue, he said.
But he said that the “only red line” was Russia itself, three-and-a-half years after President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion.
“The only question we don’t have an answer to is whether Russia is ready to make a lasting peace,” he said. “A peace where they don’t re-invade Ukraine six months, eight months later, two years later”.
Russia rained missiles and drones overnight on Kyiv, killing six people, authorities said Tuesday, as three people died in Russia’s Rostov region in massive Ukrainian strikes. AFP
