On the other hand, the President of the Republic once again contradicted the arguments used by his Russian counterpart to justify his war in Ukraine.
A relationship that he wanted strong from the start of his first five-year term, but which quickly deteriorated. Invited as part of the Les Rencontres du Papotin program broadcast this Saturday on France 2, Emmanuel Macron spoke at length about the relationship he had with Vladimir Poutine. At first, he wanted to highlight the personality of the man who has been the strongman of the Kremlin since the beginning of the 2000s.
“First when you meet him like that he is not unpleasant, it is the paradox”, he begins.
“I think it’s wrong”
On the other hand, when addressing the Ukrainian conflict, the President of the Republic harshly criticized Vladimir Putin. “I don’t think there is anything that justifies starting a war,” he begins.
“He tried to explain that it was Ukraine that was threatening him because through Ukraine it was the Europeans and the Americans who wanted to threaten the security of Russia. I believe that is not true,” adds Emanuel Macron.
“And basically he decided to launch this war to recover territories, re-extend Russia and regain the perimeter of the Empire that had been able to exist”, he concludes, in front of several dozen journalists suffering from autistic disorders who asked questions.
Direct line with Putin
Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2022, Emmanuel Macron has been one of the rare leaders to have wished to maintain a direct relationship with Vladimir Putin, as evidenced by the various telephone conversations organized over the past eight months. A line that has earned him criticism, but that he justifies as necessary to help make peace between Russia and Ukraine.
However, the President of the Republic has continually shown his support for the Ukrainian people, but also for his army. This week, France thus became the first Western country to announce that it was delivering armored vehicles to kyiv.
