French President Emmanuel Macron must feel particularly isolated after his statements about the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine on the front with Russia.
After the substantial reactions of the majority of the Western Allies came the warning of the press representative of the Russian Embassy in Paris who neither more nor less said that he would start the Third World War between nuclear Powers.
Read also: Russia: World War III could be caused by sending foreign troops to Ukraine
The response also came from inside Russia and allies of President Vladimir Putin, who warned French President Emmanuel Macron that any troops sent to Ukraine would meet the same fate as Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Army, whose 1812 invasion of Russia ended in death and defeat.
Macron on Monday left open the possibility of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, although he warned there was no consensus at this stage.
His remarks prompted a number of other Western countries, including the United States and Britain, to say they had no such plans, while the Kremlin warned that a conflict between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance would be inevitable if European NATO members were to send troops to fight in Ukraine.
Vychislav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, and a close ally of Putin, said Macron appeared to see himself as Napoleon and warned him not to follow in the French emperor’s footsteps.
“To maintain his personal power, Macron could think of nothing better than to start a third world war. His initiatives are becoming dangerous for the citizens of France,” Volodin said on his official social media channel.
“Before making such statements, Macron would do well to remember how it ended for Napoleon and his soldiers, more than 600,000 of whom became fallen on the damp earth.”
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 initially made rapid progress and captured Moscow. But Russian tactics forced his Grand Army (Grande Armee) into a long retreat and hundreds of thousands of his men died from disease, hunger and cold.
The war in Ukraine has sparked the worst crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Putin, who controls the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has warned of the dangers of a direct clash between Nato and Russia.
However, Macron’s statement was welcomed by some outside Russia, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Read also: ‘Inevitable conflict’ if NATO deploys to Ukraine, Moscow says – Ally Divergences
But former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Macron had dangerous delusions of grandeur and that his statement was an example of how flawed Western political thinking had become.
“The petty and tragic heirs of Bonaparte, trying to wear the golden epaulettes stripped of them 200 years ago, desire revenge on a Napoleonic scale and spout wild and extremely dangerous nonsense,” he said.
Medvedev, who was once considered a modernizing reformer, has been transformed since the start of the war in Ukraine into a “hawk”. He has made a series of belligerent statements, attacking the West and warning of the risk of nuclear apocalypse if certain red lines are crossed.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Macron’s statement revealed that other Western countries, unlike Macron, understand the dangers of a direct conflict between NATO troops and Russia.
“The leaders of many European governments quickly declared that they did not and do not plan to do anything like this,” he said.
“That shows they understand the risk.”
Read also:
Famine threatens Gaza – More than 30,000 dead from Israeli operations
“Block” from Illinois to Donald Trump
European Parliament: The protection of journalists from abusive lawsuits (SLAPPs) was approved by a large majority
#Moscow #Macron #troops #send #fate #Napoleons #Army
