France President Emmanuel Macron has admitted that Ukraine is aware that Kiev does not have the means to retake all the territory they claim is now held by Russia.
However, so far, Ukraine has rejected Russia’s demand that it renounce its claim to the lost territories. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said in April, however, that Kiev “did not have enough weapons” to retake Crimea by force.
“The war must end, and Ukraine must be in the best possible position to enter into negotiations … that will make it possible to address territorial issues,” Macron said on Tuesday.
“Even Ukrainians themselves have the lucidity to acknowledge … that they will not have the capacity to reclaim everything that has been taken [by Russia] since 2014.”
“We can’t leave Ukraine on its own,” the French president added. “Since it will not be joining NATO, we are proposing reassurance forces. In other words, the allies who are willing … will deploy forces far from the front line, in key locations, to conduct joint operations and demonstrate our solidarity.”
France and the UK have proposed sending peacekeepers to Ukraine following a ceasefire but have provided few details. Russia has warned that any foreign troops stationed in Ukraine without its permission, especially those from NATO countries, would be treated as enemy targets.
Crimea, which is populated predominantly by ethnic Russians, voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia shortly after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kyiv. The largely Russian-speaking Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, along with the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhe, did the same after holding referendums in September 2022. Russia’s control over these regions is contested by Ukraine.
The US President Donald Trump had earlier said in an interview to Time magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” claiming that Zelensky understood this as well. Trump’s peace plan reportedly envisions freezing the conflict along the current front line and recognizing Russian sovereignty over the peninsula. The president has repeatedly stressed that he wants to end the bloodshed as soon as possible.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said that Moscow seeks to discuss a “sustainable settlement” with Kiev during potential talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Also read: Zelensky to direct talks with Putin in Turkey on Thursday
Macron open to deploying France’s nukes in Europe
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he was also open to discussing the potential deployment of his country’s nuclear weapons elsewhere in Europe.
Macron noted that the United States already stations nuclear-armed aircraft in Europe. “The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,” Macron said. “We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
Marcon proposed back in March to hold talks with European allies about how French nuclear weapons could help protect Europe.
These comments come as many European leaders feel they can no longer rely on the US’ nuclear commitment to Europe amid concerns of the Russian threat to the continent.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also expressed interest in his country hosting French nuclear weapons.
France held around 280 nuclear warheads in 2024, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Its military has the power to launch these independently from its submarines or use jets to drop them from the sky.