Louis de Raguenel, edited by Gauthier Delomez 07:08, February 22, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday evening on television the recognition of two separatist territories in Donbass, eastern Ukraine.

A decision that falls quite badly for Emmanuel Macron, who experienced the sequence badly and was taken aback.

The head of state must however announce his presidential candidacy soon.

TO ANALYSE

It's "a bit of a cold shower" for Emmanuel Macron, according to one of his advisers.

A few hours after proposing a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to ease tensions around Ukraine, the Russian president decided to recognize the independence of two separatist territories of Donbass, in the east of the country, and to send troops there to "keep the peace".

An announcement that destroys all attempts by the European Union and the French president to avoid this scenario.

This decision falls badly for Macron, who experienced the sequence badly and was taken aback when he must declare his candidacy for the presidential election in the coming days.

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Macron shared his "disappointment" with Putin

On Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron was informed of Vladimir Putin's decision only a few minutes before the official announcement.

According to the Kremlin, the head of state spoke of his "disappointment" to the Russian president.

“We understood yesterday that all the initiatives of the president (Macron) actually had no chance of succeeding, since Putin had already acted on everything, decided everything”, explains an adviser to the Elysée.

But around the president, we want to take advantage of this setback to wage an "XXL battle", using the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, to show, more than ever, to what extent the concept of European sovereignty 'Emmanuel Macron is essential, particularly in the energy, industrial and military fields.

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The difficulty of adopting common sanctions

However, a difficulty already appears: how to convince the 27 countries of the EU to adopt common sanctions which divide more than they unite for the moment?

One more challenge for Emmanuel Macron who had to delay his declaration of candidacy because of the crisis, to show the French that he fought his best.

And that, even if he has not yet declared himself, he is now, of all the presidential candidates, the most capable of protecting Europeans and French people.