Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Ukraine. He said this in an interview to the American news channel CNN. US President Joe Biden should also “come and watch”.
According to Zelensky, Macron would thus be able to witness the genocide that the Russians are inflicting in Ukraine. The French president has not yet coined that term, unlike, for example, his American counterpart Joe Biden.
“I spoke to Emmanuel (Macron, ed.),” Zelensky told CNN in an interview that was taped Friday and aired Sunday. “I think he wants to draw Russia into a dialogue,” he declared the French president’s refusal to speak of a genocide in Ukraine. “I told him that I would like him to understand that this is not a war, but nothing but genocide. I have invited him to come here whenever he has the chance. He will come, he will see, and I am sure he will understand.”
Macron said last Thursday that genocide should be determined by lawyers, not politicians, and that “verbal escalation” will not help Ukraine. Zelensky found that “very hurtful” at the time.
In addition to Macron, the US president should also visit Ukraine, Zelensky said. “I think he will come, but that is of course his decision and will depend on the security situation. But he is the leader of the United States and should come and watch.”
The White House has so far ruled out Biden’s own travel to Ukraine due to security risks. The US president may send an envoy to Kiev.
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