Vigorous handshakes, jokes, compliments: the French president and Donald Trump returned to their diplomatic camaraderie number, already established during the republican’s first mandate. Emmanuel Macron was on a state visit on Monday, February 24, at the White House, from where he gave a press conference with his counterpart. But behind this cordial atmosphere hides the very thorny file of war in Ukraine, which opposes American and European.
Emmanuel Macron is indeed trying to influence the position of the United States, which is pushing in recent weeks for a rapid agreement, without conviction of Moscow, nor defense of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, 20 % of which is occupied by Russia.
Fear of a forced “capitulation” of kyiv
Despite huge differences on the merits, Emmanuel Macron said he was “convinced that there was a path” to go with Donald Trump, to end the conflict. The French president however considered that a peace agreement could not signify a “capitulation” of kyiv, and insisted on the need to provide “security guarantees” to prevent President Vladimir Putin from going back to the attack ,, Recalling the violations, in the past, of the Minsk agreements by Russia in 2014 and 2015.
“We want a quick deal, but not an agreement that is fragile,” said the French head of state from the White House, who also urged kyiv to the discussions. “No one wants to live in a world where the law of the strongest can impose itself,” he also warned, believing that Ukraine “must be involved”, while first talks between Russians and Americans last week, without associating kyiv or Europeans, had aroused strong concerns on the old continent.
During a chain interview Foxnews After this meeting, he also considered that a “truce” was possible “in the coming weeks”, “on the infrastructure (of air transport)”. And “if it is not respected, it will be the best proof that Russia is not serious” in its desire to put an end to the conflict, he added. He also praised “the courage” of Ukraine who has been fighting for more than three years against “the Russian aggressor”: a way of standing out from Donald Trump, who judges kyiv responsible for the war with Moscow.
European troops in Ukraine?
The American president, for his part, said that the war, entered his fourth year, could end “in a few weeks”. He also indicated that the signing of an agreement with Ukraine on the United States access to the country’s minerals was “very close”, and spoke of President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House to ratify, “this week or the next one”. For Donald Trump, it is a question of “recovering” the amount of the aid provided to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.
On this subject, Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate, during the meeting, to publicly resume his host when the latter put European participation in the aid provided to Ukraine in front of him. “No, to be frank, we paid, we paid 60 % of the total effort,” intervened the French president, putting his hand on the forearm of Donald Trump.
This one, which puts above all on his dialogue with the Russian president Vladimir Putin to put an end to the fighting, also launched that the latter would agree with the future deployment of European troops in Ukraine, but remained evasive on the guarantees security that Washington would eventually bring for these soldiers.
According to Emmanuel Macron, “Europeans are ready to go as far as sending troops” to verify that “peace is well respected”, also ensuring that Europe was ready to “strengthen” its defense – a constant request for his American interlocutor.
The latter assumed having engaged a “clear break” with the foreign policy “of the past” of the United States, which since 1945 has arose in guarantors of democratic values, as well as in protectors of Europe via NATO and thanks to their nuclear arsenal. “I campaigned against a very stupid foreign policy establishment,” said the American president.