Europe 1 with AFP 9:43 a.m., June 18, 2022

On the sidelines of his visit to the VivaTech fair in Paris, the former Russian chess champion Garry Kasparov returned to the situation in Ukraine.

Emmanuel Macron puts himself "on the wrong side of history" he explained.

A statement that echoes the French president's call not to give in to the "temptation" of "humiliation" towards Russia a few weeks ago.

Emmanuel Macron is putting himself "on the wrong side of history" by "pushing" the Ukrainian president to "cede territories" to Russia, former chess champion Garry Kasparov said on the sidelines of the VivaTech fair in Paris on Friday. .

"It's a shame to see the president of France put himself on the wrong side of history by pushing President Zelensky to cede territories to Russia," Garry Kasparov, a notorious opponent of Vladimir Putin, told AFP. AFP.

Garry Kasparov, who still has Russian nationality but lives in exile, thus takes up a recurring criticism of Ukrainian officials and some of their allies, after the French president's appeal not to give in to the "temptation" of "humiliation to Russia.

President Zelensky said Thursday that Ukraine had "turned the page" of this episode, alongside French President, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in kyiv.

"Lack of political will"

The French president for his part explained himself at length from the Ukrainian capital, stressing that his remarks were aimed at the moment when the war would be over and when a new security architecture in Europe would have to be negotiated.

The four European leaders also said they were ready to grant Ukraine "immediately" EU candidate status.

In general, Garry Kasparov deplored the "lack of political will" in European countries or in the United States to help Ukraine regain the territories lost to Russia.

"All Ukraine needs are weapons," he said, deeming the efforts made by Western countries in this area insufficient.

Garry Kasparov, who was given the infamous title of "foreign agent" by Russia at the end of May, like the former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, speaks at the VivaTech new technologies fair as "ambassador on the security" from the antivirus brand Avast.