French President Emmanuel Macron supported Donald Trump’s outreach to Russia over Ukraine but called on the United States to back any European troop deployment as a form of security guarantee.
Macron made this known during a joint news conference at the White House.
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He flew to Moscow weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago in an unsuccessful bid to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin. Like then US president Joe Biden, Macron soon cut off contact with Putin.
Macron said there was a big change in that there was a new US administration but shared Europe’s own experience in negotiating after an earlier conflict in Ukraine a decade ago.
The President, who has mulled sending French troops to Ukraine to preserve any peace, said it was critical for the United States to offer support.
Trump and Biden both ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine, and Trump has pressed for Kyiv to sign a deal to hand over mineral wealth to the United States.