What explains Macron's activity regarding France's participation in the Ukrainian conflict and what are France's interests in the western part of the Black Sea basin, political expert Olga Lazorkina says.
The French President Emmanuel Macron's statement about the possible appearance of French troops in Ukraine caused not only a controversial reaction from his NATO colleagues, but also an unequivocal response from Russia, which was formulated by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Peter Tolstoy.
In an interview with French journalist Jeremy Norman, Tolstoy said that representatives of the French military contingent would become legitimate targets of Russia, therefore, French politicians should think twice before taking such decisions.
The main thing that came to light amid Macron's statements is the fact that the West has ceased to be collective, the guest of Sputnik Belarus Radio, analyst at the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research Olga Lazorkina, believes.
"Macron is known for such rhetorical bombs, I would call them like that, because these loud statements are part of his image. He first showed up when he talked about NATO's brain death, and then he also made statements amid special military operation. Therefore, his new statement created a certain resonance," Lazorkina says.
Macron's statement on the NATO contingent participation in the Ukrainian conflict should be viewed in three contexts at once – legal, political and psychological, the Sputnik interlocutor believes.
"First of all – the political context. Many experts have noticed that once the situation in the Ukrainian crisis changes, certain statements immediately follow, which mark new "red lines" of what the West is ready for in the future. Actually, Macron said this was a kind of next step and a kind of "red line". And Russia responded and gave its own layout," Lazorkina says.
An important political point in Macron's statement was the checking of his own NATO allies, how they would react to such a scenario, the expert notes.
"We keep saying there is a kind of collective West. I say once again that this is a myth, there is no collective West. If it had existed, no disparate responses to what Macron said, would have followed. In fact, Macron just held a roll call in his own camp, and we saw who in that much," Lazorkina said.