Opposition criticizes Macron for risking escalation in Ukraine

President Emmanuel Macron, who was attacked at home and abroad last month for his statement that sending troops to Ukraine “should not be ruled out,” faced an outpouring of outrage from left and right on Thursday when he called leaders of major political parties met to discuss the case. his new position.

Macron’s comment startled his NATO allies and broke a taboo by threatening a direct confrontation with Russia, which they had hoped to avoid. But it also surprised the public and political parties and has since sparked intense debates in France.

With Thursday’s meeting, Macron hoped to find some agreement on bolstering support for Ukraine, or, failing that, to expose opponents he believes remain too weak or too servile towards Moscow. He told party leaders: “Faced with an enemy who does not impose limits on itself, we cannot allow ourselves to impose ours.”

But the president’s criticism after the three-hour meeting was scathing and uniform. Jordan Bardella, 28, chairman of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, said Macron was prepared to support Ukraine with “no limit” and “no red line,” an approach he characterized as “irresponsible and extremely dangerous for peace in the world.”

Others also remained unconvinced by the president’s arguments. Fabien Roussel, the secretary of the Communist Party, said Macron had used a map to illustrate the possible advance of rising Russian forces towards the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the southern port city of Odessa.

“He said this could lead to an intervention” because “we cannot allow them to do this in any scenario,” Mr. Roussel said. He described the president’s position as “prepared for an escalation” and “dangerous.”

Officials at the Élysée Palace, the seat of the presidency, characterized Macron’s position as saying that any Russian hardening of its attack on Ukraine must be met with a proportionate response from the West. There was a consensus among European allies and French political parties that it was necessary to do more, they emphasized.

France has repeatedly said it does not seek war with Russia.

Marine Tondelier, the leader of the Green party, said Macron had shown “amateurism” and accused him of adopting a worrying attitude “intended to show his masculinity.” Her comments reflected anger among both center-left and center-right parties, as well as against the political extremes.

The position Mr. Macron has now taken is consistent with his belief that it is essential to convey “strategic ambiguity” to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia so that, more than two years after the war, he remains guessing about the future of the West. military intentions.

Early in the war, and before that, Mr. Macron repeatedly tried to persuade Mr. Putin to reason and a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, dangling the possibility of Russia’s integration into a new European strategic architecture. The attempt was rejected.

“Last year, Mr. Macron told me that Putin had humiliated him,” said Pascal Bruckner, a prominent French author and intellectual. “He said he never believed Putin would lie to him so much. So maybe that’s an element in all of this.”

It is now clear that Ukraine will be a central issue in France ahead of June’s European Parliament elections, with Mr Macron seeking to characterize the far right and left as fellow Russian travellers.

Gabriel Attal, Macron’s newly appointed prime minister, has already taken on the task. “It is reasonable to wonder whether Putin’s troops are not already in our country – I am talking about you and your troops, Mrs. Le Pen,” he said in the National Assembly last week.

At Thursday’s meeting, Mr. Bardella said he spoke out against Mr. Attal’s comment. But Mr Macron has made clear he fully supports it, urging his ministers to fight “every inch of the way” against the National Rally in the European elections, where the far-right party is leading in the polls.

“Don’t let the nationalists have their way,” he said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, adding that “they now represent a defeat against Russia.”

The House of Representatives and Senate will vote next week on a security pact signed last month between France and Ukraine. The debate is likely to become heated and focus more on Macron’s more hawkish stance on the war rather than the deal itself. The vote is not binding, but a defeat for the president would be embarrassing.

Aurelien Breeden reporting contributed.