France's support for Ukraine has 'no limits,' says President Macron

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France's support for Ukraine has no limits, the French president told political parties on Thursday, according to media reports.

Emmanuel Macron held a meeting with the political parties at the Elysee presidential palace, broadcaster France Info said.

Macron told the parties' representatives that France's support for Ukraine "has no limits," according to political sources who attended the meeting.

The Republicans' president, Eric Ciotti, said on X after the meeting that he reiterated the "irresponsible and dangerous character of sending troops (to Ukraine)," and added that "instrumentalizing the conflict in Ukraine less than 100 days before the European elections was unacceptable."

French Communist Party leader, Fabien Roussel, wrote on X that France should lead "a coalition for a diplomatic solution."

National coordinator of the left-wing France Insoumise (LFI), Manuel Bompard, expressed his growing concern after the meeting.

President Macron seems to not weighing the possible risks for France of "stubbornness in this military path," Bompard said.

Macron last week made a statement on sending troops to Ukraine, which has been embroiled in a war with Russia for over two years. His remarks sparked an ire among French politics, while France's allies denied such a debate.

"There is no consensus today that ground troops should be deployed in an official, accepted, and endorsed way. But nothing should be ruled out in the dynamic," Macron said at a news conference last week in Paris.

NATO countries, including the US, the UK, and Germany, have expressed that Western countries will not send any ground troops to Ukraine, turning down the French president's suggestion.

Members of the French National Assembly, and then the Senate are set to debate and vote on Paris' strategy for Ukraine next week.

The French Foreign Ministry announced, at the same time, a secured video-conference meeting early in the evening with the foreign and defense ministers of 28 countries, including Ukraine, and the representatives of the European Union and NATO.

The meeting aims to monitor the initiatives discussed during the conference for Ukraine held in Paris on Feb. 26.