The French president said it was time for Ukraine's allies to act and declared that the time was coming for Europe "not to be cowardly".
After meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel on March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron said the two countries "clearly see that conflict is returning to Europe, some powers are unable to stop the growing threat of an attack on us".
"We will have to live up to history with the courage it requires. Europe is certainly approaching a time when we cannot be cowards," Mr Macron said.
Referring to the controversial idea of "the West sending troops to Ukraine", Mr. Macron said he maintained his position and said "there needs to be a strategic breakthrough".
French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference in Paris on February 26. Photo: Reuters
Following Mr. Macron's controversial statement on February 26, most of France's European allies affirmed that they would not send troops to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, French officials said Mr Macron wanted to stimulate debate and insisted that any Western military units arriving in Ukraine would support operations such as mine clearance, not directly confront Russia.
President Macron also stressed on March 5 his support for a plan put forward by the Czech Republic in February to buy hundreds of thousands of shells from other countries and send them to Ukraine. Several countries, including Canada and Denmark, supported the Czech plan.
Mr Macron did not say what France would contribute to the Czech initiative, but left open the possibility of using European funds for the plan. "In the current circumstances, the plan can be implemented bilaterally or in cooperation with third parties with European funding," Mr Macron said.
The French president also mentioned plans to use revenue from frozen Russian assets in Europe to provide military aid to Ukraine, estimated at $3.2-5.4 billion per year.
Mr Macron insisted the original assets would remain intact, declaring "we do not support things that are prohibited by international law or that would cause controversy that would weaken Europe".
Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, Reuters )
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