French President mentioned 'big coalition' supporting Ukraine after Russia's warning
Jun 08, 2024
Paris [France], June 8: French President Emmanuel Macron said on June 7 that he wanted to "finalize" the formation of a coalition of military trainers for Ukraine in the coming days, according to AFP.
"We will take advantage of this time to finalize the largest possible coalition to implement Ukraine's request. We want a coalition and some of our partners have agreed... We do not alone," Mr. Macron said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on June 7, according to AFP.
Mr. Macron did not name the countries that had committed to sending military trainers to Ukraine, according to RT Radio. Mr. Macron argued that sending experts to carry out training work in Ukraine would not cause a reaction from Russia .
"We are not at war with Russia. We don't want to escalate, but we do want to do everything in our power to help Ukraine resist. Is this an escalation if Ukraine asks us for training?" train soldiers mobilized on our soil? No, because that does not mean deploying European or allied soldiers to the front line," President Macron emphasized, according to RT.
French forces have trained about 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in France and other NATO countries. Lithuania and Estonia have also publicly suggested that they are ready to deploy military trainers to Ukraine. In fact, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas confirmed last month that NATO trainers were operating in Ukraine, according to RT.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that any foreign military personnel in Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets, regardless of their mission or location.
At the end of February, President Macron began making public statements about the possibility of deploying Western troops to Ukraine, causing opposition from some NATO allies. The Kremlin has also warned that such a step will inevitably lead to direct conflict with Russia, according to RT.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper