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Written by Michelle Rose
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron called President Vladimir PutinRussia is an enemy that will extend beyond Ukraine if it defeats Kiev’s forces in the two-year conflict, and called on European countries not to become “weak” and to prepare for a response.
Last month, Macron said he could not rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine in the future, a controversial move that many leaders have distanced themselves from, while others, particularly in Eastern Europe, have voiced support for the move. There were also people.
After French opposition leaders criticized his comments as bellicose, Macron said in a television interview aimed primarily at domestic audiences: “If Russia wins this war, there will be zero trust in Europe.” Deaf,” he said.
Mr Macron said he “deeply” disagreed with the views of opposition leaders. “Deciding to abstain or vote against Ukraine today is not choosing peace, but choosing defeat. That’s not the case,” he said.
Macron’s main opposition party, Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, abstained from a parliamentary vote earlier this week on France’s security agreement with Ukraine, while the far-left party France Indomitable voted against it.
“If the war escalates in Europe, Russia will be responsible,” Macron added. “But if we decide to be weak, if we decide today not to respond, then we have already chosen defeat. And I don’t want that.”
He said it was important for Europe not to draw red lines, which he said would signal weakness to the Kremlin and encourage it to push for an invasion of Ukraine. He declined to provide details about what the deployment to Ukraine would look like.
“I don’t want to do that. I want Russia to stop this war, retreat from its position and allow peace.” “I’m not going to give visibility to someone who won’t give me anything. This is a question for President Putin.”
“There’s a reason I can’t say exactly,” he said.
Despite the fact that Russia has launched an active attack against French interests in France and abroad, President Macron has stated that France will never launch an attack against Russia and that Paris is at war with Moscow. He said there was no such thing.
“The Kremlin regime is our enemy,” he said, declining to call Russia an enemy. He also said it was “not appropriate” for Putin to threaten nuclear attack.
President Macron said Ukraine was in a “difficult” situation on the ground and needed stronger support from allies.
“Peace does not mean the surrender of Ukraine,” he said. “Wishing for peace does not mean defeat. Wishing for peace does not mean destroying Ukraine,” he said.
He also said he hoped there would be a time to negotiate peace with the Russian president “whoever he is,” considering for the first time the possibility that Putin may no longer be in charge of Russia.
President Macron also said he had not canceled his planned visit to Ukraine for security reasons. “That’s what Russia said. You shouldn’t believe it,” he said.
(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by GV De Clercq, Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)
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