Emmanuel Macron. Photo : Ludovic MARIN / AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly condemned Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine, calling them “criminal attacks” and urging the international community to take “strong action” if Moscow continues to refuse peace.
“These Russian attacks must stop. We need an immediate ceasefire. And decisive action is needed if the Kremlin continues to try to buy time by rejecting any peace initiatives,” Macron wrote in X.
He stressed that Ukraine has been supporting former US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire for more than a month, while Russia “is waging war with new intensity, indifferent to civilian lives”.
The French leader’s indignation was provoked by a missile strike on Kryvyi Rih on 4 April, which claimed at least 20 lives, including 9 children. According to Macron, the world cannot allow “Russia to continue to kill children and civilians under the guise of manipulation around a dialogue on peace”.
Russia responded by claiming that it had carried out a “precision strike” on a restaurant where Ukrainian commanders were allegedly meeting with Western instructors. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that up to 85 Ukrainian soldiers and “foreign officers” were killed. However, Kyiv and its Western allies categorically deny these claims, calling the attack a deliberate war crime against civilians.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a rapid increase in the number of Russian air strikes and called on the West to increase pressure on Moscow. According to him, the current sanctions are not enough to stop the escalation.
France, which has traditionally balanced between pragmatism and support for Kyiv, is increasingly turning to the rhetoric of harsh condemnation, and Macron’s statements may indicate that Paris is ready for a new phase of diplomatic or even economic pressure on Russia.
