French President Emmanuel Macron called the US government’s refusal to deploy troops to Ukraine “weakness.”
“Already in the spring of 2022, our American partners announced they would not send troops. We have repeatedly told Moscow what we will not do. This is a sign of weakness,” Macron said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung yesterday.
He also noted that “we need to reduce our dependence, especially on the Americans.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously said that the presence of NATO states’ troops on Ukrainian territory, under any flag and in any capacity, including as peacekeepers, is a threat to Russia, and that Moscow will not accept it under any circumstances.
Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the conflict settlement, directly involving NATO countries in it. Lavrov said that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia.
