The French president Emmanuel Micron has gone a bit crazy:
Europe’s credibility will be destroyed if Russia is allowed to win in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has warned, as he defended his refusal to rule out sending troops to the country.
…
The war in Ukraine is “existential for our Europe and for France”, Mr Macron said in the interview on France 2 and TF1.“Do you think that the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Estonians, the Romanians and the Bulgarians could remain at peace for a second [in the event of a Russian victory in Ukraine]?” he asked. “If Russia wins this war, Europe’s credibility would be reduced to zero.”
Micron fails to recognize that Europe does not have any credibility it could lose. Just ask those ~150 countries who have not sanctioned Russia. They know very well that the 2014 U.S./EU coup in Kiev started the mess and that the failure, especially of France and Germany, to force Kiev to implement the Minsk agreements led to its escalation.
Failing as the guarantor of agreements without any attempts to enforce them leaves one's credibility behind.
Trying to regain land for Ukraine that it had lost a decade ago is similar nonsense:
"We are doing everything we can to help Ukraine defeat Russia, because I will say it very simply: There can be no lasting peace if there is no sovereignty, if there is no return to Ukraine's internationally recognized borders, including Crimea," Macron said during the TV interview.
Interestingly Micron does not say how he will attempt to achieve that. The front is cracking everywhere and Ukraine is running out of men who are capable and willing to fight.
France could probably send 30,000 troops to Ukraine but what good could those do? It does not have the troops and equipment for a real fight with Russia. The logistics alone, vulnerable to Russian attacks, would be a nightmare.
The France dream of ruling Odessa already died during the chaos at the end of the first world war 105 years ago (edited machine translation):
December 12, 1918. Renault tanks unloading in Odessa – bigger
Emmanuel Macron's statement about the possibility of introducing French troops to Ukraine and, in particular, to Odessa fell almost on a round date: exactly 105 years ago, the French army was already on Ukrainian territory. Very briefly, though. But the French had a considerable influence on the course of events. Although not at all in favor of Ukraine: they did not allow the capture of Odessa by the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic, transferred formal power over the city to the Russian White Guards, actually quarreled with the local rule of Hetman Grigoriev, who went over to the side of the Bolsheviks, which played a huge role in the subsequent military collapse of the UPR.
In the end, after several months of being in Southern Palmyra, the French troops were thoroughly decomposed by Bolshevik agitation, sang "Internationale" in pubs, and as a result, the French command decided to leave Odessa in early April 1919, calling it "unloading" the city in order to reduce the food shortage.
There were at that time French, Polish, Serbian, Greek, German, British and other troops involved. The Russians had split into Reds and Whites and several nationalistic Ukrainian groupings tried and failed to win a war against everyone else. The Cossack Hetman Grigoriev was probably the most interesting character of all. As is historically typical for his kind he and his troops fought for practically all parties in the war changing loyalties on a whim whenever convenient.
If France would again go to Odessa who could it really trust in a fight? The Nazi groupings? The government in Kiev which they mostly oppose? The Russia partisans who increase their activities in Ukraine day by day?
How would it react should such a missile strike, even by chance, would hit its troops camp?
Russians With Attitude @RWApodcast – 13:46 UTC · Mar 15, 2024
From what we have seen from Ukrainian media so far, today's Russian missile strike against an AFU temporary base in Odessa killed:
– Alexander Gostishev, former head of the National Police in Odessa, commander of the "Tsunami" "Assault Regiment" (formed from policemen, fought in Bakhmut, part of the "Liut" Brigade, an ongoing project to militarize and mobilize Ukrainian police staff to the frontlines)
– Sergey Tetyukhin, former deputy mayor of Odessa, who volunteered to join the AFU last year
– Dmitry Abramenko, deputy head of the National Police in Odessa
As the day goes on, more names might appear.
The French people for one do not seem to be interested in joining the mess:
In an Odoxa poll, 68 percent of French respondents said Macron's comments on Western troops in Ukraine were "wrong."
Macron's party will likely lose in the upcoming election to the European parliament. Let's hope that other leaders do not fall for the electioneering stunt he is providing with such nonsensical talk.