French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for caution about the prospects for a peaceful settlement between Ukraine and Russia, stressing that “part of the equation depends on Moscow”. He said this in an interview with Paris Match magazine on Monday.
Macron stressed the need for unity and a deterrent policy among the allies. He noted that joint efforts had succeeded in “increasing pressure on Russia again”.
Two days earlier, a quadripartite meeting was held in the Vatican with Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump. The discussion quickly turned into a separate meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump.
Macron pointed out that although there is “hope for a ceasefire”, Russia has not yet officially agreed to this initiative. The French leader promised that “in the next eight to ten days, pressure on the Kremlin will be increased”, although specific measures have not yet been disclosed.
“It would be wrong to put pressure on Ukraine alone,” Macron said, recalling a difficult moment during the White House talks when Trump and Zelensky had a public spat.
The French president expressed confidence that he had convinced the US side of the need to raise the threat of new sanctions against Moscow. He also stressed that in order to establish a sustainable peace, it is necessary to “create the conditions” for all parties to agree to an unconditional ceasefire.
