French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic blunder on the steps of the Élysée Palace put him ahead of his NATO allies last week. But his error is unexpectedly becoming a brilliant move, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken notice.
After meeting with 20 European heads of state and other officials at the Ukraine Summit in Paris on Feb. 27, Macron openly contemplated in a press conference the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to help Kyiv win the war against Russia.
No such formal decision had been made during the summit, so this was a rather controversial statement. Yet what Macron had done was deliver a message to the Kremlin regarding NATO troops, that “nothing should be ruled out,” and that “We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
Macron’s messaging actually had two intended recipients: Washington and Moscow. His patience with Capitol Hill over Ukraine funding had run out. “Should we give over our future to the American electorate?” he asked. “My answer is no. Let’s not wait for the outcome.”
Macron’s message to Putin was that he will not allow Ukraine to lose, and that it is therefore futile to continue the war.
Both messages were strong. But Macon, ever the geopolitical opportunist, had failed first to receive a buy-in from NATO or from the other European nations attending the summit. By getting out in front of his messages before achieving consensus from other European leaders, Macron committed a tactical error.