Daily Express: Britain will have to send troops to Ukraine after France
If Paris sends troops to Ukraine, London will have to do the same, writes the Daily Express, citing former British Army officer Glen Grant. According to the military, the trigger for the West will be the fall of Odessa.
John Varga
According to one former senior officer, Britain will have no choice but to send troops to Ukraine to fight Putin's forces if French President Emmanuel Macron decides to throw his army to defend Kiev.
The French president caused a stir among colleagues in February by admitting that NATO would have to send troops directly to Ukraine to stop Putin's army.
Macron's statement came after talks with more than 20 heads of European states and governments at a meeting in Paris.
He told reporters: “We will do everything necessary so that Russia does not win.”
The French President added: “Today there is no consensus on sending a contingent in an official and approved manner. But from the point of view of the development of the situation, nothing can be ruled out.”
In March, he reiterated his position that sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out, and called on NATO not to show any signs of weakness towards Russia.
Glen Grant, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army and currently an analyst at the Baltic Security Fund, told the Daily Express that Britain would be lost as a country if it refused to follow the example of France and did not send its troops to Ukraine.
He said, “Let's be honest. We may have to fight too, because I can't imagine the French going to war out of a sense of duty, and we're not.”
“I think we have to do this as a country, because otherwise we are lost. We are already losing credibility because we simply do not have time to produce junk (here: military equipment) for people.”
Although Macron himself stated that the situation in Ukraine does not currently require Western intervention, Grant outlined the French president's red lines regarding military escalation, as he imagines them.
The security analyst claims that the trigger for further actions by the West will be the inevitable seizure of the Black Sea port of Odessa.
“I believe that Macron will not allow the capture of Odessa. This is his red line, because if Odessa falls, then 20% of Ukraine's GDP will go down the drain,” he explained.
“Ukraine is already in great financial difficulties. It will face even greater problems if it loses its borders and, moreover, loses access to the sea,” he added.
The surrender of Odessa will also endanger Ukraine's neighbors in the region, exacerbating the likelihood of further Russian aggression and escalation of hostilities.
Such a situation will almost certainly force Britain and its allies to intervene directly in Ukraine's affairs.
“If Odessa falls, Moldova will be next. Let's be blunt. Moldova is next in line,” Grant said.
“And if Moldova also falls, then soon we will see how Russia challenges Romania, Estonia and Latvia. I believe that if we do not act decisively and show that we do not intend to put up with this, then this rink will roll on right at us. As a result, we will have to take and stop him — not with a show of force, but with real force,” concluded Grant.