 "France and Britain seek one-month truce in Ukraine: Macron to Le Figaro")
France and Britain are proposing a one-month cease-fire in Ukraine “in the air, at sea, and on energy infrastructure” following crisis talks in London, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday.
In an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily, Macron stated that such a truce would not initially encompass ground fighting.
He stated that given the magnitude of the front line, it would be extremely impossible to ensure that it was being followed.
Peacekeepers will be sent later, he claimed, adding that “there won’t be European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks.”
Macron also suggested that European countries should raise their defence spending to between 3.0 and 3.5 percent of GDP to respond to Washington’s shifting priorities and Russia’s militarisation.
“For three years, the Russians have spent 10 percent of their GDP on defence,” he told the paper. “So we have to prepare for what’s next.”
In a separate interview with Milan’s Il Foglio newspaper, Macron also said that Europe needed a “strong” Italy to help resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
At Sunday’s crisis talks Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appeared to dismiss the prospect of her country contributing to any peacekeeping force in Ukraine, saying it was “never on the agenda”.
“We need Italy, a strong Italy which works side-by-side with France, with Germany, in the concert of great nations,” Macron said, according to a translation of his comments published in Italian.
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