French peace proposal for Ukraine difficult to imagine as Paris openly siding with Kyiv, says Russia

New Delhi: Russia has said that French peace proposal for Ukraine conflict is “difficult to imagine” as Paris is “directly and indirectly” involved on the side of Kyiv. “Paris can hardly aspire to be a mediator at this time, because Paris actually takes the side of one of the participants in the conflict,” a Russia Today report quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying. According to the report, if French President Emmanuel Macron has offered his own peace platform, it has not been made public yet. Peskov was commenting on reports from the recent visit of Macron to China. During a dinner with Macron in Guangzhou, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Macron that Beijing welcomed French proposals for a political and diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine conflict, and would be willing to support them, the report added. Macron had arrived in China on 5 April for a three-day visit, joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The European leaders hoped to talk Xi out of supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid reports of Beijing considering sending lethal aid to Moscow. They also aimed to persuade Xi to use his influence on Putin to help peace efforts in Ukraine. “The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to (international) stability,” Macron told Xi in Beijing." I know I can count on you to bring Russia back to its senses and everyone back to the negotiating table." Xi stand firm behind Russia The French leader also demanded Beijing denounce the Russian “invasion” and side with the West, which Xi declined to do, according to a Russia Today report. After the 6 April meeting with Macron, Xi reportedly called on Kyiv and Moscow to resume peace negotiations and find a political solution, echoing China’s 12-point France has been on board with all ten rounds of EU sanctions against Russia, while sending Ukraine a variety of weapons systems, including Caesar self-propelled howitzers, Crotale air defense missiles, and AMX-10 light tanks. Paris has also trained Ukrainian troops on French soil as part of an EU program of aiding Kiev. On Monday, Macron had flown into a storm of criticism after he said Europe should not become a “vassal” and must avoid being drawn into any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan. The French president made the remarks in an interview on his plane after a three-day state visit to China. Addressing the Les Echos and Politico reporters, Macron said Europe should be a third power in the world order, along with the US and China. While the comments reaffirmed Macron’s long-term goal of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, namely avoiding military and economic dependencies, his remarks on Taiwan stoked anger and alarm on both sides of the Atlantic. “Do we [Europeans] have an interest in speeding up on the subject of Taiwan? No. The worst of things would be to think that we Europeans must be followers on this subject and adapt ourselves to an American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” Les Echos quoted Macron as saying. He added it would be “a trap for Europe”, now it had developed more autonomy since the Covid pandemic, to get caught up in crises “that are not ours”. If there was an acceleration of conflict between the American and Chinese duopoly “we will not have the time, nor the means to finance our own strategic autonomy and we will become vassals, whereas we could become the third pole [in the world order] if we have a few years to develop this”. Meanwhile, the White House on Monday said it remains “confident” in the US-French relationship after President Macron distanced himself from US policy on Taiwan and warned Europeans not to be American “followers.” With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.