French intelligence agency has briefed President Emmanuel Macron about Republican Party’s candidate Donald Trump not winning the November 5 elections.
According to media reports, French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed doubt that Donald Trump will be able to secure another term in the White House, when asked who could potentially mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Macron called Moscow “an adversary”, but stopped short of declaring it an “enemy,” during an interview with the France 2 and TF1 TV channels on Thursday. He once again refused to rule out NATO deployments in Ukraine, reiterating that Paris is ready to make any “decisions necessary to prevent Russia’s victory” – and noting that he sees no opportunities for negotiations with the Kremlin at this point.
“I am absolutely ready for discussions at any time, but we need someone sincere and peace-oriented to do that”, Macron said, adding that he hoped that the time would come one day to negotiate with a Russian president “whoever it might be”.
Noting Macron’s reluctance to engage in direct communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the interviewers wondered if the United States could potentially mediate such talks, especially if Donald Trump is reelected.
“As far as I’m informed, I don’t think Donald Trump will become President of the United States”, the French leader claimed.
At the same time Macron said there was “nothing personal” behind his decision to refrain from dialogue with Putin. “Undoubtedly, I am the head of the state that used to talk to him more than anyone else”.
Back in January, Macron said he would deal with whoever wins the US election, claiming “I’ve always had the same philosophy, I take the leaders that people give me”.
Voting for Trump is voting for Putin
In a recent remark Hillary Clinton said, supporters of US presidential hopeful Donald Trump would be voting for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Clinton’s remark followed a meeting between the presumed Republican nominee and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Florida. After the talks, described by CNN sources as “friendly”, Orban told the media that Trump had a “detailed plan” to end the conflict in Ukraine, which involved stopping US aid to Kiev.
“It’s becoming clearer every day: A vote for Trump is a vote for Team Putin” Clinton, who ran for Presidency twice as a democratic nominee, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The post also displays a photo of Trump and Orban shaking hands and features a caption “Trump will not give a penny to Ukraine – Hungary PM Orban”.
It may be mentioned here that, the US President Joe Biden, who is also running for re-election, described the meeting between Orban and Trump as “worrying”, according to CNN. Orban did not meet Biden during his visit to the US.
On March 12, the Biden administration announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth US$300 million. The move comes as a bill that would provide $60 billion additional funds for Kiev remains blocked by Republican leaders in Congress.
Meanwhile, in a recent report, Russian media outlet RT said, US special forces personnel are stationed on some of Taiwan’s outlying islands training its armed forces, the island’s defense authority chief Chiu Kuo-cheng confirmed to the press.
The official was asked to confirm media reports of a permanent US army presence in Taiwan on the sidelines of a legislative hearing, the news website Focus Taiwan wrote on Thursday. Chiu stated that US service members are training Taiwanese troops, helping them identify weaknesses and blind spots.
Recently, the US military news site Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP) wrote that America’s “Green Berets” were planned to be deployed to Taiwan to act as permanent training observers and prepare the island’s special units. This represents a departure from past practice that saw frequent but non-permanent visits by US personnel to Taiwanese training facilities, the report said. The permanent US forces, according to the article, would be situated on the Kinmen Islands, just 10 kilometers from mainland China.
In another report, RT said, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik has called for quickly killing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and other top officials in Pyongyang in the event that war breaks out on the peninsula again.
Shin issued his order on Wednesday, telling South Korea’s Army Special Warfare Command to make preparations for taking out North Korea’s leaders. “If Kim Jong Un starts a war, as a key unit of Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), you must become the world’s strongest special operations unit to swiftly eliminate the enemy leadership”, he said during a visit to the commando unit southeast of Seoul, in Incheon.
