French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday he plans next week to hold a meeting of army chiefs from European countries willing to send troops to Ukraine after any eventual peace deal with Russia.

The French president says Europe must increase their defence spending, in a televised address on the war in Ukraine.

Emmanuel Macron has seemingly taken a veiled swipe at Donald Trump after hauling French army chiefs to Paris for a crisis meeting. The French President confirmed the top brass of France's military will meet in the capital next week amid calls for an Franco-British peacekeeping force to head to Ukraine.

The Kremlin on Thursday condemned what it called a highly confrontational speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he called Russia a threat to Europe and said Paris would consider putting other countries under its nuclear protection.

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized Russia’s threat to Europe in an address to his country on Wednesday night. President Donald Trump’s recent rebuke of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has concerned European leaders and led them to coalesce around Ukraine and offer support.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of the threat to Europe from Russia. In a televised speech on Monday evening, Macron said that Russia is continuing to pursue its rearmament in parallel with its war of aggression against Ukraine.