French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly said on Thursday that he recognizes no limits or Russian “red lines” when it comes to backing Kiev, drawing criticism from both Moscow and the opposition at home.
Macron called the opposition leaders to the Elysee Palace to discuss France’s support for Ukraine, BFMTV reported on Thursday. After more than three hours of discussion, no consensus was reached.
According to the outlet, the president said he would abide by “no limitations” to aiding Kiev and does not consider that an escalation, but a “proportionate response” by Paris to Moscow’s actions.
Macron’s rhetoric has grown increasingly belligerent as Russian troops continued to push the Ukrainians back and destroy Western-supplied equipment. Last week, he said that the West “cannot exclude” the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, but faced pushback on the comments by most members of the US-led bloc.
On Tuesday, he told French expatriates in Prague that Western Europeans “will have to live up to history and the courage that it requires.”
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella and Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel confirmed Macron’s comments about “no limits, no red lines” when it comes to Ukraine, speaking to French media after the meeting.
“France needs to set out red lines,” Bardella said, adding that Paris must not start a conflict with Moscow.
While the Republicans support aiding Ukraine, sending troops would be “irresponsible and dangerous,” said the leader of that party, Eric Ciotti.
Florian Philippot, leader of the non-parliamentary Patriots Party, slammed National Rally for agreeing to aid Kiev and urged the French to impeach Macron before they are sent to die in Ukraine.
“It is up to every Frenchman to resist, for every mother to refuse to let her son die for Kiev, NATO and Blackrock,” Philippot said on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s up to us to fight to leave the EU and NATO and throw Macron out!”
Macron’s remarks about “red lines” have also drawn notice from Moscow. Former Russian president and current deputy head of the National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, posted on X that this means “Russia has no more red lines left for France.”
He followed that up with a Latin saying that translates as “everything is allowed against enemies.”