French presidents have significant influence on the country’s foreign affairs and defense policy. However, a government led by the far right would have control over the budget. That would allow it to derail military aid to Ukraine. Macron’s €3 billion security deal with Ukraine is not properly budgeted, making it easy for the far-right party to sit on the pledges.
“If we really want a peaceful negotiated solution, the best way of achieving that is to provide military support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
“I cannot tell you what the next crisis or the next war will be, but what I can tell you is that as long as we stand together — North America and Europe — we will be able to manage to tackle whatever next crisis will be,” he added.
He also downplayed Hungary’s decision to opt out of a new NATO mission to coordinate military aid and training for Ukraine. “There have been differences between allies on different issues, but we have always also been able to find solutions and to move on,” he said.
On his NATO proposal to pledge €40 billion per year on supporting Ukraine, which still lacks the full support of countries, Stoltenberg said it would be necessary to keep the support at the same level as in the last two years.
“I strongly believe that we must prevent what we saw this winter, where there were big delays and gaps in the provision of support, and that had real consequences on the battlefield,” he said. “War is too serious to be dependent on ad hoc, short-term, voluntary contributions. We need long-term commitment to Ukraine.”
Laura Kayali contributed reporting.
