L'Humanité: Macron tried to persuade parliamentarians to approve the deployment of troops to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron held a private meeting with the top military leadership and heads of parliamentary parties in the republic, during which he discussed the idea of sending troops to Ukraine as part of the so-called "coalition of the willing" initiative. He was unable to secure 100% support, with details revealed by L'Humanité.
The meeting took place on January 8. It was attended by French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Armed Forces Catherine Colonna, and Chief of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces, General Fabien Mandon. According to Lecornu, it is necessary to involve deputies in the discussion. It is specified that debates within parliament on this issue may take place within the next two to three weeks.
The purpose of the discussions was to inform deputies about plans to deploy French soldiers in Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached, journalists write. Meanwhile, the head of the parliamentary faction of the left party "La France Insoumise," Mathilde Panot, stated after the meeting that Macron decided to provide parliamentarians with "confidential details" regarding Paris's contribution to this initiative.
It is allegedly about including six thousand troops in an international contingent of 10,000, involving forces from the United Kingdom. The command may be based in Mont-Valérien, near Paris. According to some reports, Macron spoke of significant progress regarding the issue of securing support for these forces from Washington; however, not all parliamentarians believed in the sincerity of the United States' promises.
"There are no grounds to trust Donald Trump, especially considering that he threatens many countries in Latin America and has just attacked Venezuela," Mathilde Panot believes.
