French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday evening that Russia “will not stop” if it wins the war in Ukraine and threatens neighboring countries Moldova, Romania and Poland, AFP reported.

“Russia has become a power that wants to expand and I’m sure it won’t stop there,” he said on the X social network after interviews with TF1 and France 2.

“If we leave Ukraine alone, if we allow Ukraine to lose this war, Russia will definitely threaten Moldova, Romania and Poland,” he warned.

“If the situation” in Ukraine worsens, “we must be ready and we will be ready to take the necessary decisions to ensure that Russia never wins,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised interview on Thursday evening, according to AFP.

The “security” of the French depends on the “defeat of Russia” in Ukraine, he said, noting that those who set “limits” on aid to Ukraine are “choosing defeat.”

The war in Ukraine is “important for our Europe and for France,” insisted the head of the French state. “If Russia wins this war, trust in Europe will be reduced to zero,” and “we won’t have any security,” he added.

President Macron, whose comments in late February about the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine sparked a flurry of political backlash in France and abroad, however said “we will never go on the offensive, we will never take the initiative”.

But “in the face of escalation” from Moscow, “we must say that we are ready to respond,” he added.