Reports are actively circulating on social media that French troops may soon appear on the territory of Ukraine and help counter the Kremlin. The reason for this information was an interview given by French President Emmanuel Macron on the evening of 14 March to TF1 and France 2. Kommersant Ukrainian 
looked into what the French president actually said to journalists.
QUOTE #1:
“What is happening in Ukraine? A war that is existential for our Europe and for France. We have set too many limits, so to speak, in our vocabulary. We are not going to escalate. We are not at war with Russia,” Emmanuel Macron stressed.
QUOTE #2:
According to the French president, if France is forced to send troops to Ukraine, “the only one who will be responsible is the Kremlin regime”. “It will not be us. We will never go on the offensive, we will never seize the initiative,” he assured.
QUOTE #3:
“France is a force for peace. Therefore, we must look at the situation soberly and say with determination, will and courage that we are ready to invest resources to achieve our goal, which is to ensure that Russia does not win,” Macron added.
In other words, the French President stressed that his country is determined and ready to invest resources in the future to achieve victory over Russia.
In the evening interview, Emmanuel Macron reiterated his thesis, which he voiced on 4 March, that he would not send troops to Ukraine in the near future, but he was opening a debate on this issue.
In a blitz interview with Kommersant Ukrainian , political scientist and former MP Taras Chornovil expressed his view on why Ukrainians were quick to wishful thinking and under what circumstances it is possible to send foreign troops, including French troops, to Ukraine.
“We have a kind of cave level of news reporting by some journalists. Most of them wrote that that’s it, France is sending troops. There are even reports that these troops have already entered Romania and are heading towards Odesa.
This is nonsense. In fact, no one is sending any troops to Ukraine. Macron has made a number of statements.
The issue is only being considered. It must be agreed upon at least among a significant part of European and NATO countries, respectively. It has to be a coalition – France is not going to take on this responsibility.
Why did Odesa suddenly appear in reports about scenarios of the so-called involvement of French troops in the war with Russia?
The statement about Odesa actually sounded quite different. It was mentioned as an example – at the time, this Ukrainian city was on the radar. The Prime Minister of Greece is from an EU and NATO country. He witnessed the missile strike and was actually in the epicentre of the attack on the city during his visit, and that’s why Odesa was mentioned.
In fact, so far, the very announcement of a possible deployment of troops is a very important moment to start accustoming everyone to this idea. Do you remember how it all started with the tanks? They said that no one would ever give Ukraine tanks, there could be no heavy armoured vehicles. Then they did, and no questions were asked. That is, it is a factor of getting used to the idea that NATO troops will have to enter Ukraine.
Do you think EU politicians will take this step?
Whether it will happen or not and when is an open question. As for the summer… the situation is accelerating, and theoretically something like this could happen in the summer, but so far there are no specifics in Macron’s statement. I repeat, this is about getting the partners to understand that at some point this will have to be done anyway.
To what extent are France and Russia economically connected? It is known that Italy and Germany have had such close ties with the Kremlin for decades..
France has more traditional ties. They have been cultivated all the time, but now, I think, they are breaking. Friendship with Russia is becoming unpopular there. Indirect economic ties are maintained through intermediaries – third countries: Turkey, Kazakhstan, India. In fact, there are not many direct ties. As for political ties, they existed, and it was difficult to break them. But note that even Marie Le Pen is now making very careful, but anti-Russian appeals.
The French have always had a certain psychological attachment. Strangely enough, it began with a certain shock and stress when Paris fell under Napoleon. Russian troops entered the city, first as cattle who plundered and raped, and then as officers who spoke French.
This myth was very strongly cultivated in France – at first they saw cattle, bandits, and then suddenly some people came in with whom they could communicate normally, dance at balls, who all spoke French, and it was a revelation for them. From that moment on, they took off. In 1917, the French were focused on Russian emigrants. Do you remember Paris as the centre of Russian emigration? Again, a contrast: the cattle won in Moscow, and the best came to France.
I once encountered French journalists. It was simply impossible to explain to them that there is no such thing as a nation of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I explained to them that Tolstoy and Dostoevsky actually wrote about things that are not principles and values for Europeans and that even Dostoevsky was sentenced to death… They did not understand.
It seems to me that a turning point has finally begun in the minds of the French. Now only third-rate marginals support Russia.
Business card from Kommersant Ukrainian :
Taras Vyacheslavovich Chornovil (born 1 June 1964, Lviv) is a Ukrainian political scientist.
Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the III, IV, V, VI convocations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. His father was a political activist, Soviet dissident, journalist, and one of the founders of the People’s Movement of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Chornovil.