For Emmanuel Macron, peace in Ukraine is “possible” when the Ukrainians “decide it”
In Rome, Emmanuel Macron declared that it was necessary to have the “courage” to “want peace”.
AP - Alessandra Tarantino
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The French president was speaking this Sunday, October 23 at the opening of an international meeting for peace organized in Rome by the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio.
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“
At some point, depending on how things develop and when the Ukrainian people and their leaders have decided, in the terms they have decided, peace will be built with the other, who is the enemy of 'today, around a table
,' said Emmanuel Macron during a speech at the opening of the international summit for peace organized by the Italian Catholic community Sant'Egidio.
“
Peace cannot be the law of the strongest
”, insisted the French president.
“
Ukrainians are fighting to save their freedom
,” he recalled.
“
A peace is possible, but when the Ukrainians decide it and when it respects this dignity and this sovereignty
”.
►
To read also: Sant'Egidio, from aid to the excluded to the "shadow diplomacy" of the Vatican
While supporting Ukraine diplomatically and militarily, the French head of state has assumed since the start of the Ukrainian conflict in February to continue to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, unlike other Western leaders and in particular the American president. Joe Biden.
He again pleaded, on Friday in Brussels, for Kiev and Moscow to return “
around the table
” when it will be “
acceptable
” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – but also “
as soon as possible
”.
This position has sometimes been criticized and Emmanuel Macron took advantage of his speech on Sunday to justify it in front of hundreds of political and religious leaders from around the world gathered for this three-day forum.
"
Talking about peace and calling for peace today can have something unbearable for those who fight for their freedom, and give (them) the feeling of being somehow betrayed
", thus recognized the French president.
But he hammered home the need to have the "
courage
" to "
want peace
", even if "
imagining peace in times of war
" is "
the greatest of the unthinkable
".
►
To listen also: Here Europe – The new frontiers of European diplomacy
In a plea for "
universalism
", Emmanuel Macron, who presented himself as "
the president of a secular Republic which has a sometimes complex history with religions
", asked the latter to "
resist
".
According to the French president, religions can fuel multilateralism.
“
They help to build the fabric of our societies, to establish relationships between individuals
,” he argued.
The French head of state arrived in Rome on Sunday afternoon, where he will be received this Monday morning by Pope Francis for a private audience at the Vatican, the third between the two men since the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017 At the end of his speech, he revealed that he will present the pontiff with an edition of Immanuel Kant
's Project of Perpetual Peace
.
(
With
AFP)
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Italy
Emmanuel Macron
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