His jingoistic words came just at the end of a summit held in Paris in support of Ukraine, which involved 20 mainly European leaders. He said of efforts to arm the Ukrainians with more advanced weapons, "people used to say give them just sleeping bags and helmets." But he emphasized that now "Nothing should be ruled out."

He admitted there is as yet "no consensus" on sending Western troops Ukraine but he laid out that "We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war."

Macron warned in his remarks, "There is a change in Russia's stance. It is striving to take on further territory and it has its eyes not just on Ukraine but on many other countries as well, so Russia is presenting a greater danger."

"We're at a critical moment in this conflict that requires us to take the initiative," Macron said while also unveiling a new European coalition which is to provide Kiev with medium-range and long-range missiles. President Putin and top Kremlin officials have repeatedly rejected the charge that Russia is seeking to wage an expansionist war in Europe and in other former Soviet satellite states.

According to CNN, "Macron had told reporters at a news conference that while he and the other 21 European leaders present did not agree on deploying military personnel, the prospect was discussed openly." However, Germany, the UK, Poland and others have rejected the possibility of deploying troops, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - who was among those present - later emphasizing that participants were "unanimous" in being set against it. The statement out of the UK prime minister's office was interesting, given it admits the "small number of personnel" already on the ground in Ukraine: 

Britain is not planning a "large-scale deployment of troops" in Ukraine, Prime Minister Sunak's press secretary said. "Other than a small number of personnel who are in the country supporting the Ukrainian armed forces, we have no plans for a large-scale deployment," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Germany's Scholtz tried to caution, "What was agreed among ourselves and with each other from the very beginning also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states."