War in Ukraine: Macron insists on a negotiated solution, even if the time has not yet come
French President Emmanuel Macron believes that a possible entry of Ukraine into NATO is not the "most likely scenario".
Here, the French president in Tirana, December 6, 2022. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In an interview granted to the French daily newspapers
Le Monde
, the American
Wall Street Journal
and the Lebanese
An Nahar
, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, discusses the conditions necessary to set up a negotiation process to end the conflict.
According to him, this is the only possibility that exists.
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Emmanuel Macron therefore insists on trying to change the positions of the other countries allied to Ukraine in order to prevent Europe from falling behind, if by chance a process of negotiations were to begin.
Emmanuel Macron does not want there to be any misunderstanding.
“
We are on a strategy of absolute defense of Ukraine, of victory for Ukraine
”, he specifies in front of journalists as he returns from Jordan where he took part in a conference on the stabilization of Iraq .
A negotiated solution, "
it's not the priority, it's one of the things that will come to an end
" he adds.
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The French president, who has been calling for months for a solution through negotiation, recognizes that this option is not possible for the moment, specifying that "
what the Russians have been asking for from the start is surrender, not peace
”.
But even if the defense of Ukraine is the priority, Emmanuel Macron insists: Europe and the West, sooner or later, will have to sit around the table to discuss.
Ukraine's entry into NATO unlikely
“
Me, I don't want it to be the Chinese or the Turks alone who negotiate the next day
”.
The French President recalls the importance, according to him, of establishing security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia in the future and pleads for strategic autonomy for Europe, within NATO, but without depending on NATO.
Because today, he believes, “
Europe needs to protect itself
”.
On a possible entry of Ukraine into NATO, Emmanuel Macron believes that it is not the "
most likely scenario
".
“
The entry of Ukraine into NATO would be perceived by Russia as something confrontational.
It is not with this Russia that you can imagine
it, ”also declared the French president.
Emmanuel Macron insists on the need to grant "
security guarantees
" to Ukraine, but also to Russia at the end of the Ukrainian conflict, a position which has earned him strong criticism in Kiev and in Eastern Europe .
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