The French president indicated that he will maintain contact with Putin to try to get him to abandon the war
He also announced that France will extend the increase in defense spending agreed in 2017 and will continue its strategy of independence and investment in its economy, research and innovation.
“We are not at war with Russia.” The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has avoided this Wednesday putting on the suit of a military chief and has opted for one of his usual intermediate positions in his most important television address on the war in Ukraine. “These events represent the signal of a change of era. Democracy is questioned before our eyes”, he assured tonight in a fifteen-hour speech from the Elysée Palace, in which he stressed that he wants to maintain a dialogue with Vladimir Putin and he avoided referring to his candidacy in the presidential elections in France, although this week is the deadline for making it official.
“I have decided to keep in touch and I will keep in touch whenever possible and necessary with president putin” with the objective of avoid an extension and propagation of the conflict& rdquor ;, defended the centrist leader, who multiplied his diplomatic efforts in February to avoid a war. His initiative was a failure. Although France is preparing to send weapons to Ukraine and is in favor of tougher sanctions, such as the exclusion of Russia from the Swift system, it does not want to close the door to a negotiated resolution of the conflict.
In a solemn and serious tone, at the height of the circumstances – one of the worst wars in Europe since the Second World War – the President expressed France’s solidarity with Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he maintains a constant telephone conversation in the last few days. He has warned that “the next few days will probably get harder. Hundreds of thousands of refugees will flee (to neighboring countries) & rdquor ;. Macron has positioned himself in favor of welcoming Ukrainians fleeing the war, although in August he opposed the arrival of Afghans fleeing the new Taliban regime.
“Russia is not the victim, but the aggressor & rdquor;
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Macron has criticized that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, “chose war & rdquor; and he did it “alone and deliberately & rdquor;. “There are no NATO troops or bases in Ukraine. Russia is not the victim, but the aggressor. (& mldr;) This war is the fruit of a spirit of revenge arising from a revisionist reading of history & rdquor ;. Despite this, he specified that “we are not at war with Russia. We know what unites us to this great European people that is the Russian people & rdquor ;. With these words, lowered the spiral of warmongering statements of the last days. The French Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, had boasted on Tuesday of promoting “a total economic and financial war against Russia & rdquor; —which he rectified a few hours later—, while one of the spokesmen for the British government had said on Monday that they wanted to “overthrow Putin & rdquor ;.
The centrist leader also referred to the adoption of a plan in France to contain the economic impact of the war. He defended an increase in military spending and the elaboration of a “independence strategy” energetic in Europe. He also announced his plans that at the summit of heads of state that will take place next week in Versailles, progress will be made in the construction of the “Europe of defense & rdquor ;. One of Macron’s main proposals in military matters, although the current context of claiming NATO does not seem the most propitious for the Old Continent to recover “strategic autonomy & rdquor; coveted by Macron.