French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference after a European Union leaders' special summit to discuss Ukraine and European defence, in Brussels, Belgium March 6, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]

French President Emmanuel Macron's call for Europe to rally behind Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, and for it to be prepared to use nuclear weapons to guarantee its freedom, could increase tensions, experts have warned.

Macron talked about nuclear weapons and spending more on defense during a televised speech on Wednesday, in which he said the world was entering a "new era" in which the United States may not protect its allies.

But he said: "Our nuclear deterrent protects us — it's complete, sovereign, French through and through. However, responding to the historic call of the future German chancellor, I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our (nuclear) deterrent."

He made the remarks after Friedrich Merz, the victor in Germany's recent federal election, said he hoped to share France's nuclear weapons. Macron said it was a good idea, and that France was also prepared to put boots on the ground to protect its neighbors.

"We have the most effective army in the whole of Europe, and nuclear capacity," he said.

Macron said he plans to host a meeting of Europe's army chiefs in Paris next week and would take his message to Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, for a meeting of European Union national leaders.

The meetings come at a tense time for Europe, after US President Donald Trump paused aid to Ukraine and effectively told Europe to protect itself.

The European Union is considering borrowing 150 billion euros ($162 billion) to fund its 27 member nations' purchase and production of weapons. And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hopes to mobilize 800 billion euros for defense in the next few years.

But Russian officials said Macron and the EU are wrong to see Russia as a threat, and that talk of nuclear weapons may drive the world toward war.

'Erroneous analysis'

Konstantin Kosachev, a senior Russian senator, told Reuters: "Such an erroneous analysis leads to fatal errors … Macron maniacally imposes on his citizens, allies, and the entire world a completely false concept of what is happening."

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said his special military operation in Ukraine was triggered by the expansion of NATO that followed the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, when NATO encroached on what he sees as Moscow's traditional sphere of influence. He has said his country has no intention of conducting similar operations elsewhere.

Martin Jacques, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University and Fudan University, said Macron's speech shows Europe's "tacit acceptance" of the US' political withdrawal from Europe.

"This is a permanent development, as it were, and in that context, Europe needed to step up to the plate on Ukraine," he said. "He also talked about the European countries sharing in France's nuclear umbrella because France and the UK are the only two nuclear powers in Europe. I think he's trying to galvanize support in France, to some extent, to reassure the French that things will be fine."

Michael Dunford, an emeritus professor at the UK's University of Sussex, said: "I fear that Europe is still trying to pull the US into the conflict with Russia. The fact is that Europe's stance is completely at odds with what Russia will accept. A cease-fire without a permanent settlement will be a no. NATO member states' troops in Ukraine will be a no. Remilitarization of Ukraine will be a no."

Dunford said Europe seems to want to see Russia defeated.

"But without the US, it cannot win. So, it wants to pull the US back in, even at the expense of World War III."