“Two days after the “coalition of the determined” summit in Paris on January 6, French President Emmanuel Macron gathered the political forces represented in the parliament to present to them the project of deploying several thousand French soldiers in Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace agreement.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Le Monde, “The European Truth”
Details: The Prime Minister, the Minister of the Armed Forces, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the heads of the National Assembly and the Senate, heads of parliamentary factions, party leaders and heads of the committees on foreign affairs and defense in the parliament took part in the closed meeting.
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In total, about thirty people participated in the discussions. All political forces were present, including those least supportive of sending troops to Ukraine, such as National Unity and Invincible France.
Paris, according to the leader of the “Invincible France” parliamentary faction Matilda Panot, can send “6 thousand French troops” to Ukraine.
Those close to the French president said that at the meeting, Macron sought to provide political forces with “confidential details” about the French contribution, “so that everyone is well aware of the scale and nature of the challenges.” The President emphasized the “important progress” which, in his opinion, is the US support for the security guarantees that European countries should provide to Ukraine.
None of those present at the table expressed a principled objection to the mechanism presented by the head of state. Some parliamentarians even saw the “coalition of the determined” as a possible alternative to NATO. Instead, the promise of US intervention in the event of Russia violating a possible truce caused a debate.
“Macron says that he has received security guarantees from the Americans, but I do not trust the American promises at this moment,” said Jean-Louis Thieriot, a member of the National Assembly’s defense commission, in an interview with Le Monde.
“There is no reason to trust Donald Trump, especially since he threatens many Latin American countries,” Matilda Pano said at the exit from the Elysee Palace.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Fabien Mandon, said during the meeting that “the French forces will not be mediation forces, nor stabilization forces”, but they will be “forces to maintain the confidence of the Ukrainian army”.
“We will not be on the front line, but we are here to support the Ukrainian army,” Macron emphasized, assuring that international forces will support Ukrainians “far from the front line.”
However, the “France Invincible” party “does not agree with French soldiers being deployed in such conditions” and will demand a “UN mandate” when the issue arises, Mathilde Pano said.
The National Secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, fears escalation and advocates “UN peacekeeping forces.”
The head of the “National Unity” faction in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, believes that it is impossible to be allies with the Americans after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and also demands that the deployment of troops take place under a UN mandate.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, for his part, agreed with “the need to involve the parliament in the discussions.” He announced that the debate would take place “within two to three weeks”, according to article 50-1 of the constitution, with or without a vote.
According to mass media, the total strength of the “coalition of the determined” continent in Ukraine may be 15,000 people, half of which will be provided by Great Britain.
It will be recalled that Britain and France undertook in the declaration of January 6 to deploy troops in Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement.
Read a detailed article on this topic: Allies promise help: which countries and under what conditions are ready to send troops to Ukraine