Emmanuel Macron: “I do not see that Putin would be very willing to obtain peace at this time. If the Russians do not comply, we must intensify the sanctions”
Emmanuel Macron does not think Putin is “Very willing to obtain peace” in Ukraine. The French president told NBC News that if no progress is made in negotiations, Russia should be hit with more sanctions.
French President Emmanuel Macron is skeptical about the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to resolve the conflict.
“When I analyze the situation and the facts, I do not see that President Putin would be very willing to obtain peace at this time. But maybe I'm too pessimistic“, Macron said to the moderator of the show”Meet the PresS “from NBC News, Kristen Welker, in an exclusive interview given on Monday, after meeting European leaders with Donald Trump, at the White House.
“We need to do our best to get an excellent agreement.”
Macron added, referring to Donald Trump, that “The optimism of your president must be taken seriously. So if he considers he can reach an agreement, this is an excellent news and we need to do everything we can to get an excellent agreement“
The French president insisted that the United States should execute Putin's Russia to find a solution, including by introducing additional sanctions.
If the trilateral meeting fails, “we must intensify the sanctions”
Macron said that if there is no progress in the bilateral meeting announced by President Donald Trump between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski and if the trilateral meeting, “Or if the Russians do not comply with this approach, yes, we must intensify the sanctions, both secondary and primary ”.
Macron looked skeptically about Putin's intentions. PHOTO CAPTURE NBC NEWS
“There is an aggressor, namely Russia. There is a country that has decided to kill people, kidnapped children and refused to stop fire and peace, so we cannot create an equivalent situation between Ukraine and Russia.”
“Russia will never respect its given word”
After his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and top European leaders, the French Llider stressed that Ukraine must receive security guarantees to prevent any future Russian attacks that could extend the conflict or trigger a new war.
“If you conclude a peace -free peace agreement, Russia will never respect its given word and will never respect its commitments“Macron said.
The French leader said it was promising that Trump mentioned that one of the key points of his Friday's meeting with Putin was that he accepted security guarantees for Ukraine.
“I hope”
Asked about the possibility of a armistice, Macron replied: “I hope ””however, reminding that Russia has made attacks in Ukraine even while the delegation of world leaders was in the United States.
