French President Emmanuel Macron called President Vladimir Putin’s Russia an adversary that would not stop in Ukraine if it defeated Kyiv’s troops in the conflict. He urged Europeans to not be “weak” and to get ready to respond.
“If Russia wins this war, Europe’s credibility will drop to zero,” Macron said in a television interview.
His statements about the possible sending of troops to Ukraine were criticized by opposition leaders as “militaristic”, which the French president does not agree with.
“Today, voting against or abstaining from supporting Ukraine is not choosing peace, it is choosing defeat. This is different,” he said.
Reuters writes that the main French opposition party, whose leader is the far-right Marine Le Pen, refrained from voting in the parliament for the security agreement signed by France with Ukraine a few days ago. The ultra-left voted against said agreement.
“If the war were to spread in Europe, Russia would be to blame, but if we decide to be weak, if we decide today not to respond, it will be a choice of defeat. And I don’t want that,” Reuters quoted the French president as saying.
He noted that it is important for Europe not to draw red lines, which would signal to the Kremlin about Europe’s weakness and encourage it to continue the war in Ukraine.
The French president did not want to specify what the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine might mean. He claimed that this is a question that President Putin will be interested in.
“I have reasons not to be accurate,” he said.
President Macron also indicated that France would never launch an attack against Russia and that Paris would not fight Moscow, regardless of whether Russia launched aggressive attacks against French interests in France and abroad.
He claimed that Ukraine is in a difficult situation and stronger support from allies is needed.
“Peace does not mean the capitulation of Ukraine, the desire for peace does not mean defeat. The desire for peace does not mean abandoning Ukraine,” he said.
Macron claimed that the information that he canceled his visit to Ukraine for security reasons is not true.
“This is what Russia said. Don’t believe them,” said the French president.
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