 "'Russia's wrath knows no border': Macron warns over Trump's infatuation with Putin")
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Russian aggression “knows no borders” as he delivered a grim television address on the ongoing situation in Ukraine. In his address, the French leader emphasised that Russia will not stop at Ukraine and pose a direct threat to France and Europe. He said that the continent must be prepared for what is about to come if the US steps away from its side.
“I want to believe the US will stay by our side,” Macron said in a televised address late on Wednesday. “But we have to be ready if that isn’t the case,” he added. The French leader also sought to calm what his office called “voter anxiety” over the ongoing Ukraine crisis, European security and the threat of a transatlantic trade war after Trump paused US support to Ukraine and is also threatening to slap tariffs on goods from the EU.
“I’m speaking to you tonight because of the international situation and its consequences for Europe … I know you are legitimately worried, faced with the historic events that are shaking the world order," the French leader said in a TV address. “The war in Ukraine, which has left almost one million dead and injured, continues with the same intensity. The US, our ally, has changed its position on this war, supporting Ukraine less and allowing doubt to linger on what will come next," he added.
‘Brutal world is entering a new era’: Macron
In his address, the French leader emphasised that the “brutal” world is entering a “new era” and “it would be madness to stay a spectator in this world of danger”. Macron emphasised that France and Europe must keep helping Ukraine “to resist until Ukraine can negotiate a peace with Russia that is solid for themselves and for all of us”. He said no path to peace could happen through “abandoning Ukraine”.
In an implicit reference to US President Donald Trump’s attempt to force Ukraine into peace talks with Russia, Macron insisted that “Peace cannot be concluded at any price.” “Who can believe today that Russia would stop at Ukraine?”
In his speech, Macron also mentioned that he has discussed with European partners extending French nuclear deterrence to other countries on the continent. However, he made it clear that the decision and control would always remain in the hands of the French leader.
“Europe’s future should not be decided in Washington or Moscow, and yes, the threat from the east is returning. And the innocence of these 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall is over," Macron said. The French leader also pointed out that Europe must also be prepared for tariffs from the US, calling that decision “incomprehensible, as much for the American economy as ours”. He emphasised that France and Europe would respond in case of such a situation; however, the priority would be to dissuade Trump from such a measure.
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