Ukraine: what to remember from Emmanuel Macron's speech

Europe 1 with AFP 9:51 p.m., March 25, 2022

France, Turkey and Greece will carry out "a humanitarian operation" to evacuate "in the next few days" from the besieged city of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday.

"We are going in conjunction with Turkey and Greece to launch a humanitarian operation to evacuate all those who wish to leave Mariupol," he said after a European summit in Brussels.

A new discussion with Putin in the coming days

"I will have within 48 to 72 hours a new discussion with the (Russian) President Vladimir Putin to properly settle the details and secure the terms," ​​said Emmanuel Macron.

“I hope to be able to engage as many stakeholders as possible in this operation”, continued the French president, ensuring that he was “able” to carry out this evacuation “in the very next few days”.

Emmanuel Macron said that the "Elysée teams" (the French presidency, editor's note) had exchanged on Friday with the mayor of Mariupol, "a city of more than 400,000 inhabitants which today only has 150,000 "living" inhabitants. in dramatic situations.

More than 2,000 civilians were killed in Mariupol, according to a latest report communicated by the town hall.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, some 100,000 people are still stranded in this strategic port on the Sea of ​​Azov which is besieged by Russian troops.

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Pay Russian gas in rubles, a request "not in accordance with what was signed"

Emmanuel Macron also ruled that Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand to charge in rubles, and no longer in dollars or euros, for gas deliveries to the European Union, was neither "possible", nor "contractual". ".

This request "does not comply with what has been signed, I do not see why we would apply it", declared the French president, questioned after the European summit in Brussels, on this announcement made Wednesday by Moscow .

On this question, "we continue the work of analysis", he specified.

But "all the texts signed are clear: it is prohibited. So European players who buy gas and who are on European soil must do so in euros".

"It is therefore not possible today to do what is requested, and it is not contractual", insisted Emmanuel Macron.

Moscow seeks 'sanctions circumvention mechanism'

He felt that Moscow was seeking, with this requirement, "a circumvention mechanism" of the economic and financial sanctions decided by the Europeans following the invasion of Ukraine.

Very concerned, Germany had denounced Wednesday a "breach of contract" on the part of Vladimir Putin, who gave a week to the Russian authorities to develop the new system in rubles.

Germany is particularly dependent on Russian gas, which accounts for some 55% of its imports.

And despite the invasion of Ukraine, Russian gas continues to flow to the EU, which refuses to impose an embargo, as in the United States and the United Kingdom.

European countries have nevertheless committed themselves to rapidly reducing their dependence.

"We are a very big buyer for Russian gas and what is experienced as a vulnerability for us is also for Russia, which cannot change the structure of its pipelines overnight," noted the head of the French state.