This is all over European news sites today, but hardly a peep from US media so far. From France 24:
French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, saying the issue would "legitimately" arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request, in an interview with the Economist published Thursday.
The Economist said Macron gave the interview after delivering a keynote speech last week where he declared that Europe is "mortal" and could "die" partly due to the threat posed by Russian aggression after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
"I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out," said Macron when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops that sent shockwaves around Europe.
Some analysts believe that Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.
Macron said "if Russia decided to go further, we will in any case all have to ask ourselves this question" of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a "strategic wake-up call for my counterparts".
This comes hot on the heels of Macron’s offer to extend France’s “nuclear umbrella” to the rest of Europe as well (as reported in Politico Monday):
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was willing to discuss using French nuclear warheads as part of a "credible European defense" against threats from Russia.
"I am in favor of opening this debate, which has to include missile defense, long-range weapons firing, nuclear weapons for those who have it or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil," Macron said in an interview with regional outlets from the Ebra press group published late Saturday.
"France will keep its specificity, but is ready to contribute more to the defense of European soil," he added.
France, which has about 300 nuclear warheads, is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
Since Russia’s nuclear arsenal outnumbers the French by about 20 to 1, Putin might not be that impressed, but it only takes a few dozen to ruin a whole country — even one the size of Russia.