Europe does not need Russian consent to send troops to Ukraine - Macron

European countries do not need to obtain permission from Moscow to send their militaries to Ukraine, French President Macron has said in an interview with Le Parisien. French President Macron said this in an interview with Le Parisien.

Ukraine is a sovereign state and if it invites allied troops to its territory, it is not up to Russia to decide whether to agree or not," Macron said.

According to Macron, Putin's refusal to station any European forces on Ukraine's territory to ensure its security is "a clear sign of a strategic existential threat."

Macron also indicated that it was necessary to keep up pressure on Russia to get it to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

This is a key point: when Russia says that the ceasefire will only be a respite for the Ukrainian army, it is making its intentions clear - to return and continue the offensive. In other words, it is ready to attack other countries," the French president pointed out.

He emphasised that the deployment of foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine should be in several cities.

The goal is not to gather a mass of military personnel, because today the largest European army is the Ukrainian army. It is about placing a few thousand military in key locations. We are talking about such deployment centres as Kiev, Odessa, Lviv," the French leader said.

He also did not rule out the supply of additional aircraft to Ukraine, in particular from "third countries that use them". In addition, Paris intends to consider the issue of transferring remote-controlled missiles and drones to Kiev.