While Russia’s war in Ukraine will end its fourth year in a few weeks, attacks on Ukrainian soil continue and 2026 does not seem to augur a cessation of fighting. Can we then expect a turnaround on the ground? General Pierre de Villiers does not believe it. “I hope that the peace process that is underway will succeed because there is no military solution to this conflict between two Slavic peoples. Ukraine is no longer capable of winning this war militarily,” he said this Monday morning on Sud Radio.
“We must therefore move towards a just peace, particularly in terms of territories, and a peace which is lasting with guaranteeing forces,” insisted the former chief of staff of the French armies, who continues to warn against the risks of France’s military and moral “disarmament”. “After the fall of the Berlin Wall, for decades we enjoyed the dividends of peace and reduced our armies,” observes the former CEMA.
What would happen if, tomorrow, France was threatened with war on its territory? According to the career soldier, who resigned in 2017 with a bang to demonstrate his disagreement with Emmanuel Macron’s defense policy, nuclear deterrence only worked when “conventional forces were of equal importance”.
“The price of peace is the effort of war,” assures the former highest ranking officer in the French army. Certainly, the armies must benefit from 6.7 billion euros in additional credits in the 2026 budget, “we went from 32 to 50 billion” annually. “But we already have eight billion in deferred charges, money that has not been paid to manufacturers,” he complains, also referring to the funds given to the European Union for Ukraine and catch-ups.
And the army general insisted: “We, the military, cherish peace because we know the damage of war. Today we are in a world where the strong will win. » “I have no doubt about our soldiers, they would not back down. But the question now is war. We need strategic and logistical depth. » And for this, there are means.