April 05, 2024
Macron’s Change in Tune and the War in Ukraine
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a notable evolution in France’s approach toward Moscow. In the initial months following the invasion, French President Emmanuel Macron continued to engage diplomatically with Vladimir Putin, controversially insisting that the West must not humiliate Moscow, prompting harsh criticism from France’s NATO allies. After apologizing last year for France’s previous failure to listen to the warning of its Central and Eastern European allies about Russian intentions, however, the French President notably pushed last month for greater Western strategic ambiguity regarding the war, stating that he had not ruled out the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine. This once again prompted an outcry from NATO allies wary of escalation, such as Germany and the United States. To discuss how to interpret this apparent shift in French thinking and its possible implications going forward, Tara Varma and Bruno Tertrais join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on Brussels Sprouts.
Tara Varma is a visiting fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.
Bruno Tertrais is the Deputy Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research, a leading French think-tank on international security issues.
More from CNAS
-
Podcast
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security
Why the U.S. Should Unlock Allied CooperationAmerica’s allies are cooperating in a growing variety of domains. In their recent Foreign Affairs piece, former NATO Ambassador Julie Smith and former National Security Counci...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Trump's Trade Talks and Europe with Liz Economy and Mikko Huotari
Podcast
President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping on October 30, 2025, ended with a temporary truce between the two leaders. While thi...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Mike McFaul on Autocrats vs Democrats
Podcast
Are we in a new Cold War? That is the question Mike McFaul takes on in his new book, Autocrats versus Democrats: Russia, China, America, and the New Global Disorder. McFaul ar...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
A New Era of Strongman Rulers Is Upon Us
Commentary
The consequences of strongman rule also seep into the fabric of economies and everyday life....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
