Macron reaffirms he doesn't rule out troops for Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that he did not dismiss sending military troops to Ukraine, stating that the matter would "legitimately" come up if Russia barged through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv called for such a move.

Macron made these remarks after he delivered a keynote speech last week where he said that Europe is "mortal" and could "die" partly due to the existential threat from Russian aggression.

"I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out," said Macron on being asked if he stood by his remarks earlier this year of not excluding the probability of sending Western troops to Ukraine.

Macron stated "if Russia decided to go further, we will in any case all have to ask ourselves this question" of sending military forces, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a "strategic wake-up call for my counterparts".

He described Russia as "a power of regional destabilisation" and "a threat to Europeans' security".

"I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine," Macron said.

"If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe. 

"Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?" he asked.

Earlier, Macron had warned that today's Europe "could die" calling for stronger, more integrated European defences.

Stating that the continent was facing an existential threat from Russian aggression, Macron outlined his long-term vision for Europe involving less dependency on the United States.

He then dubbed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as "uninhibited" saying that it wasn't clear as to where Russia's "limits" lay.

The French president also raised alarm bells over the "disrespect" of trade rules by the United States as well as China, urging the EU to review its trade policy.

"Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die," he said.

"It can die and this depends only on our choices," Macron further said, warning that Europe was "not armed against the risks we face" in a world where the "rules of the game have changed".

"Over the next decade... there is an immense risk of (Europe) being weakened or even relegated," he added, also pointing to the risk of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

Macron said the risk is that Europe will experience a decline and that despite all the efforts "we are already starting to see this".

He said he stood by his comments, which he said were a policy of "strategic ambiguity".

"Do we have limits in ensuring the security of Europeans? No," he added.

The French president called on Europe to be more self-reliant saying that it should bring about a change as in the past, the continent was over-dependent on Moscow for energy and Washington for security.

He said the required "sine qua non" for European security was "that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine".

"We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defence for ourselves," Macron said, adding Europe could not be "a vassal" of the United States.