Aletho News

Macron deployed French Foreign Legion to Ukraine, claims former US official

By Ahmed Adel | May 6, 2024

Contrary to previous claims that NATO has no operational plans for Ukraine, former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Stephen Bryen claims that France already has boots on the ground in Ukraine. His revelation comes as NATO has hypocritically outlined two red lines that would justify intervention in the Ukraine War even though France has already committed troops and has thus escalated the conflict without provocation.

“France has sent its first troops officially to Ukraine,” said former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Stephen Bryen in an article published by Asia Times.

Bryen further wrote that forces were mobilised “in support of the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade in Slavyansk.”

The soldiers would have come from the 3rd Infantry Regiment, one of the main components of the French Foreign Legion. French authorities have not yet commented on the matter.

“These troops are being posted directly in a hot combat area and are intended to help the Ukrainians resist Russian advances in Donbas. The first 100 are artillery and surveillance specialists,” Bryen argued.

According to him, around 1,500 soldiers from the French Foreign Legion are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the near future.

The former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense wondered about the “Russian red line on NATO involvement in Ukraine” or if “the Russians see this as initiating a wider war beyond Ukraine’s borders?”

At the same time, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on May 5 that NATO — “in a very confidential way and without an official statement — established at least two red lines, beyond which there could be direct intervention by the alliance in the conflict in Ukraine.” The newspaper also stressed that NATO does not plan to send its military contingent to Ukraine immediately.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently clarified that he did not rule out the possibility of NATO sending troops from Europe to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Macron’s statement as “very dangerous,” which was also criticised by French opposition parties and by several NATO members, including Italy, Hungary, and Slovakia.

According to La Repubblica, the first “red line” revolves around the possibility of Russia penetrating Kiev’s defence line and refers to the “direct or indirect involvement of third parties” in the conflict. This would happen when Ukrainian forces “can no longer fully control” the border, which would create conditions for the Russian military to penetrate the corridor between Ukraine and Belarus.

As the newspaper suggests, “then Minsk will be directly involved in a military dispute,” and “its troops and arsenal will be of decisive importance for Moscow.”

The second “red line,” according to the outlet, “implies a military provocation against the Baltic States or Poland or a targeted attack on Moldova.”

In addition, Western authorities were deeply concerned about the situation at the front and the “unfavourable conditions” for Kiev.

Russia has repeatedly stated that NATO is directly involved in the conflict, supplying weapons and training Ukrainian forces. According to Moscow, NATO, whose activities near Russia’s borders have intensified to unprecedented levels, are aimed at confrontation. The Kremlin has continuously clarified that Russia is not threatening anyone and would not attack anyone but would not ignore actions potentially dangerous to its interests.

Macron is evidently testing Moscow’s resolve and limits by deploying the Foreign Legion, foreigners in the French military who will be entitled to French citizenship after three years of service. This is, according to Bryen, for two reasons: So Macron can “act like a tough guy without encountering much home opposition” and as a petty revenge for “French troops, almost all from the Legion, getting kicked out of Sahelian Africa and replaced by Russians” which has resulted in France losing “influence” and harmed “overseas mining and business interests.”

Most importantly, though, especially in light of the two red lines that were imposed, how will NATO react to Macron’s deployment of the French Legion since the decision was made without NATO backing? Bryen suggests that “the French cannot claim support from NATO under its famous Article 5, the collective security component of the NATO Treaty” and that “Should the Russians attack French troops outside of Ukraine it would be justified because France has decided to be a combatant, and forcing an Article 5 vote would seem to be difficult if not impossible.”

The two red flags outlined by NATO do not include if French-flagged troops are killed by Russian forces, meaning if Macron’s hope is to drag the entire alliance into conflict with Russia, it will not succeed, demonstrating once again his desperation to keep France relevant in the international scenario after Russia humiliated the French president’s neo-colonial agenda in Africa.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

May 6, 2024 - Posted by aletho | Militarism | France, NATO, Russia, Ukraine