Donald Trump’s return and the shock caused by Washington’s U-turn on Ukraine have revived Emmanuel Macron’s leadership — almost as if he had forgotten the instability on the national scene. France has entered “a new era,” said the French president during a recent televised speech to the nation calling for rearmament but also for the population to take a stand faced with international threats. ”It’s a quarter before midnight, but we still have the touch,” Macron recently warned.

For several weeks, the president’s entourage has been reminding the press that Macron has long backed stronger European defense and a European sovereignty that stands independent of all other powers. Macron had already emphasized these ideas in his symbolic “Sorbonne speeches” when he presented his vision of Europe after first coming to power in 2017. Since Trump’s Oval Office clash with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, his advisers no longer even need to stress the importance of this talking point.

Amid international disorder in which US military commitments seem to be waning, European states are trying to find new ways to continue supporting Ukraine. More and more politicians want to use the €210 billion of frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to finance military aid to Ukraine. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the French National Assembly but continues to divide Macron’s camp, with some fearing that this threatens Europe’s financial stability. Economists have pointed out that seizing sovereign assets of third countries in euros risks discouraging them from holding reserves in euros. This could trigger a sale of euro-denominated bonds, which would raise their interest rates and depreciate the euro.

“I want to make it clear to the Americans that disengagement from Ukraine is not in their interest,” insisted Macron, who also proposes to open a discussion on the role of French and European nuclear deterrence in the face of the disengagement of the United States in the war in Ukraine. Macron already said last year that the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukrainian soil should not “be excluded” in the future.

The French president has been constantly active in recent weeks on the issue of Ukraine. He invited the leaders of seven European countries to Paris on February 17 for an emergency meeting on assistance to Ukraine. Then, two days later, he organized another emergency summit with eleven countries before going to Washington to meet Trump. Macron also welcomed military leaders from some thirty countries who gathered in Paris for a conference on defense and security.

However, we can wonder if France or the European Union (EU) can play any material role in the conflict — or if it is not more likely that Trump will impose the solution regardless of the Europeans’ decisions. This is especially true given that significant divisions remain within the EU over sending troops to Ukraine or over war efforts and military spending.

Macron also broke the traditional codes of presidential communication by addressing the French directly on social media without going through a mainstream media. During a live video on social media on February 20, for almost an hour Macron answered questions from online viewers about France’s role in the Ukrainian conflict.

Macron sought to assert his place by showing that he is ready to weigh in on the political debate until 2027, the year of the next presidential elections. His party, Renaissance, may never have borne its name so well, for this international standing is indeed helping Macron’s poll numbers. A week after his speech to the French on Ukraine, Macron’s confidence rating increased by six points in a month, one of the biggest increases since the beginning of his first term in 2017.