France has never advocated and will not advocate the defeat of Russia. This statement was made by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche following the results of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, February 19.
“I do not think, like some, that Russia should be completely defeated, attacked on its territory. These observers want above all to crush Russia. This has never been the position of France and never will be,” Macron said.
At the same time, the French leader expressed confidence that “the conflict will not end militarily.”
According to Macron, Western countries need to increase support for the Ukrainian authorities in order to move on to “credible negotiations.”
He added that at the moment Ukraine should go on the offensive at the front, which will provoke the return of the parties to the negotiations. In the vision of the President of France, neither side of the conflict will be able to fully win.
In addition, the French leader opposed the prolongation of the confrontation, as this could lead to “an endless conflict, where the Europeans will be the main losers.” In this regard, Macron recalled the need to maintain negotiations and contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On the same day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington had no doubts about Ukraine’s victory. In this regard, he called for “incredible caution” regarding proposals for a ceasefire.
Earlier, on February 17, French President Emmanuel Macron, in his speech at the Munich Security Conference, said that the European Union must find strength and courage in order to build a dialogue with Russia, but the right moment for this has not yet come. According to him, peace in Europe is impossible without dialogue with Russia.
On the same day, the Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the UN Zhang Jun, speaking at a meeting of the organization’s Security Council on the anniversary of the Minsk agreements, said that China calls on Russia and Ukraine to cease fire and start peace negotiations as soon as possible.
On the eve of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged NATO to prepare for a long-term confrontation with Russia. At the same time, he admitted that he cannot predict how long this confrontation will last, because everything can change suddenly.
On February 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that world leaders were not trying to persuade Ukraine to return to peace talks.
The last face-to-face round of negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine took place on March 29, 2022 in Turkey. In October of the same year, Kyiv officially renounced contacts with Moscow. Then the President of the country Volodymyr Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of the country on the impossibility of holding negotiations while Vladimir Putin is the President of the Russian Federation.
The special operation to protect the Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
