New NATO member backs Macron on troops in Ukraine — RT World News
Finland's foreign minister says the French president was right to try to be “strategically ambiguous” on the issue
French President Emmanuel Macron has done the right thing in his efforts to preserve the environment “Strategic ambiguity” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said Russia questions whether or not the West will actually deploy troops in Ukraine.
Speaking to the Financial Times on Sunday, Valtonen backed the position taken by the French president on deploying troops to support Kiev against Moscow, but argued that there was no urgent need to actually send them.
“Now is not the time to put boots on the ground, and we are not even willing to discuss it at this stage. But in the long term, of course we should not rule anything out.” Valtonen stated.
The minister noted that Paris's ambiguous approach to this issue is the right one, because it is supposed to keep Moscow guessing about the extent of the West's support for Ukraine and about the willingness of NATO countries to actually enter into the conflict with Russia.
He asked: “Why do we reveal all our cards, especially since we do not know where this war will go or what will happen in the future?” I really don't know” I argued.
Another smaller member of the US-led military bloc, Lithuania, expressed similar sentiments, with Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte also praising Macron's alleged efforts to keep… “Strategic ambiguity” With Russia.
“What I liked about the last two statements by President Macron is that he actually said why should we impose red lines on ourselves when Putin has no red lines to begin with?” She told FT.
In recent weeks, Macron has repeatedly sent shockwaves throughout the US-led bloc, repeatedly making aggressive statements about the prospects of sending troops to Ukraine to fight Russia. The French President addressed this issue for the first time late last month, explaining this 'We can't rule anything out' And that the West “We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
These are the statements that Macron later described as being the same “Weigh, think, and measure.” This sparked a wave of denial from the vast majority of NATO countries and from the bloc itself. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg publicly refuted the idea shortly after Macron's initial statement, saying there were no plans to deploy troops to Ukraine. Several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have also denied the existence of such plans.
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