By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:French President Emmanuel Macron said he cannot rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through Ukrainian front lines and the government in Kyiv made such a request,Aljazeera reported on Thursday.

Aljazeera quoted the French President’s interview with The Economist published on Thursday, where he reaffirmed his previous statements backing Ukraine in the face of Russia’s battlefield advances.

“If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request,which is not the case today, we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question,” he said.

When asked if he stood by his earlier comments this year about not excluding the sending of Western troops to Ukraine, Macron said: “Absolutely. As I said, I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out.European countries need to protect themselves, said the French President adding that Russia has been aggressive in destabilising the region, including by threatening to use nuclear weapons.

“I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine.If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe,” he told The Economist. 

“Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?” said the French President.

It has been reported that in February, following a meeting of twenty(20)European leaders in Paris, Macron said,while there was no consensus on sending soldiers to Ukraine, “nothing can be ruled out”. 

But his comments drew criticism,shock and anger,German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has been wary of drawing NATO into direct conflict with Russia, was quick to rule out any deployment of German or alliance forces into Ukraine.

But the United States said it will not put boots on the ground, but agreed to send long-delayed military aid of $61billion.