France and Great Britain offer a truce of a month in Ukraine “in the air, on the seas and energy infrastructure,” said French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, March 2 in the columns of Figaro.
Earlier in the day, before a summit on Ukraine in London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Paris and London were working on “a plan” to stop the fighting. The advantage of such a truce is that “we know how to measure it” while the front is immense, “the equivalent of the Paris-Budapest line”, said the French president.
The cessation of hostilities would therefore not first concern the ground fights. Because “in the event of a ceasefire, it would be very difficult to verify that the front is respected,” explains Emmanuel Macron.
The possibility of a deployment of European troops, in which France and Great Britain are ready to participate, would only come in a second step, he continues.
“There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” said Emmanuel Macron to Figaro. “The question is how we use this time to try to get an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace signed, a deployment,” he adds. “We want peace. We don’t want it at any price, without guarantees”.
Reconnect the sons from a dialogue
Paris and London seek to obtain an American security net for troops which would possibly be sent to Ukraine after a peace agreement, as security guarantees for kyiv. The two European countries want the United States to be able to ensure a form of protection for these troops if it were targeted by the Russians.
According to French officials, Paris and London also seek to return the sons of a dialogue between the American presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky who violently clashed on Friday in the oval office of the White House.
“In the coming days, we should be able to re -enter things,” said Emmanuel Macron, on the return from the London summit.
The French president also spoke of the meeting next Thursday of the heads of state and government of the European Union in Brussels, intended to prepare for the rise of European defense with an increase in military spending.
“For three years, the Russians have been spending 10 % of their GDP in the defense. We must therefore prepare the continuation, by setting a goal around 3 % or 3.5 % of GDP,” he told Le Figaro. The European Commission must propose plans to finance the military effort, whether it is the use of existing funds or the use of common loans, estimates Emmanuel Macron.
“We probably need, at first, 200 billion euros to be able to invest,” he said to the newspaper.
A dialogue on nuclear deterrence
Finally, the French president confirms his desire to open a dialogue with other European countries on French nuclear deterrence.
“Those who wish to deepen the dialogue with us may, if necessary, be associated with the exercises of deterrent forces. These exchanges will participate in the development of a real strategic culture between Europeans”, he said, reaffirming that it is “the President of the Republic (who) makes the totally sovereign and always confidential decision to use nuclear weapons”.