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Macron’s Ukraine troop talk ego-driven, not strategic — Marine Le Pen

The head of the parliamentary faction said she is convinced that the conflict in Ukraine "is not a war for France," and stated that she opposes the admission of Ukraine to the European Union and NATO

PARIS, May 6. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron talks about sending Western troops to Ukraine "for the sake of his own ego" and improve his image, says Marine Le Pen, leader of the parliamentary faction of France’s National Rally party.

"War is the worst thing that can happen to a country, to a people. And I am amazed at how easily Emmanuel Macron [raises the topic of sending troops to Ukraine].

He wants to send the military for the sake of his own ego, personal image. I’m saying that we should not play with the lives of our soldiers," Le Pen said on BFMTV.

The head of the parliamentary faction said she is convinced that the conflict in Ukraine "is not a war for France," and stated that she opposes the admission of Ukraine to the European Union and NATO.

She also strongly opposes the statements of the French President about his readiness to share his nuclear potential with EU countries.

"Not only am I against sharing [France’s nuclear weapons], but I also want the constitution to include a provision that we cannot share our nuclear deterrence capabilities," Le Pen said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on February 26 that at a meeting in Paris, where representatives of about 20 Western countries discussed further support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, the possibility of sending Western countries’ ground troops to Ukraine was raised. He remarked that no consensus was reached, but such a scenario could not be ruled out in the future. After the conference, representatives of most of the participating countries said that they had no intention to send troops to Ukraine and were strongly opposed to their participation in military operations against Russia.

Later, Macron repeatedly confirmed that he considered his decision to "open a debate" on this topic to be correct, since it allowed him to "give new impetus" to Europe in terms of increasing support for Kiev. According to him, this creates "strategic uncertainty" regarding Russia, which, he believes, will give Europeans more freedom to ensure their own security and contain Russia in Ukraine.

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Ukraine crisis Emmanuel Macron

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