A spokesperson figure within French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party has called on NATO allies to eliminate self-imposed restrictions and ramp up their support for Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia. Speaking at the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, Estonia, Benjamin Haddad, a French MP, emphasized that NATO should abandon its cautious approach and focus on a more assertive strategy to counter Russian aggression.
Haddad criticized the current level of commitment from NATO allies, arguing that the Western bloc has been overly cautious and self-restrained. “We should stop negotiating with ourselves and putting red lines and limits on ourselves,” Haddad said. “We have an adversary—Russia—that has put no such limit on its behavior or rhetoric.”
Paris has been at the forefront of efforts to revive NATO’s “strategic ambiguity” with regards to its involvement in Ukraine, Macron’s government declining to release details on what military support it is sending to Kyiv and the president suggesting the eventual deployment of a multinational noncombat force inside the country.
Haddad underscored the urgency of providing comprehensive military support to Ukraine, reflecting on missed opportunities earlier in the conflict. “Imagine if early on in the war, or if during the counteroffensive, we had given Ukraine everything they needed in terms of long-range missiles, tanks, airplanes; what difference that could have made on the ground,” he stated. Macron has said it would be “wrong to rule out” any action.
“We spend too much time being worried about escalation where when Russia is the country that has been escalating,” Haddad said. He pointed to direct security consequences for the EU should Russia emerge victorious.
Among the proposals discussed are relocating maintenance operations for Western-supplied weapons to Ukraine, enhancing the logistical efficiency of Ukrainian forces. The precedent of training and repairing CAESAR self-propelled howitzers in neighboring countries was cited as a model for bringing the entire process within Ukrainian territory.
There is also momentum behind the idea of using NATO’s air defense systems to protect Western Ukraine from Russian missile and drone attacks. Haddad suggested that such measures should not be dismissed. “Troop deployment is one of the options under discussion, despite opposition from the U.S. and Germany,” he noted.
Reflecting on American political dynamics, Haddad expressed concern about the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine, urging European leaders to reduce reliance on Washington. “The challenge for us, beyond just the short term, is how can we help Ukraine to defend itself in the long term while at the same time defending ourselves and increasing our own ambition at the European level,” Haddad stated. He highlighted the proposal for issuing defense Eurobonds worth over $100 billion to both arm Ukraine and upgrade European armories as an example of bold, collective action.
Relevant articles:
– No More NATO ‘Red Lines’ in Ukraine, Macron Ally Urges , Newsweek, 05/23/2024
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