The tone rises between Zelensky and Macron

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reproaches Emmanuel Macron for wanting to give Vladimir Putin a way out.

 

We should not look for a way out for Russia, and Macron is doing it in vain, he lamented in an interview with the Italian channel RAI 1, broadcast Friday on his Telegram channel.

 

I know he wanted to obtain results in the mediation between Russia and Ukraine, but he did not get any, he said, referring to the multiple exchanges of the French president with his Russian counterpart and himself just before the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine but also since.

 

The French president insisted on his side, Monday in Strasbourg, on the need to never give in to the temptation of humiliation or the spirit of revenge. A reference to the humiliation of the Germans at the end of the First World War, which led straight to Nazism and the cataclysm of the Second World War, according to the French Presidency.

 

But these words were also seen as a veiled warning to the United States, which provides massive military aid to Ukraine and whose Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, wished to see Russia weakened forever on his return from a trip to Kiev.

 

Putin is a dictator. He doesn't need to save face in front of anyone, Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said Friday.

 

For President Zelensky, Macron does not need to make diplomatic concessions (to Russia) now.

The Elysee Palace defends itself from any single rider. The head of state has never discussed anything with Vladimir Putin without the agreement of President Zelensky, insists the French presidency.

 

It is up to Ukraine to define the conditions for negotiations with Russia, Emmanuel Macron also reiterated in his speech on the future of Europe in Strasbourg.