I think their weird idea is to send troops to certain areas of Ukraine that haven’t been occupied yet but also far away enough from the frontline. And by doing so the French hope to stop the Russians from advancing further (because „NaTo TrOoPs DoNt CoMe ClOsEr“). The problem is that the definition of Article 5 would also change. Kind of, let’s use the territory called Ukraine as a block-free battlefield for a while to test all possible weapons and maneuvering tactics.