“The leader who decided to go to war and who chose to escalate: this is Vladimir Putin.” During a stay in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, marked by the war in Ukraine and the Russian president’s announcements about the conflict, Emmanuel Macron gave an interview to the US channel CNN.
The Head of State assured in particular that his Russian counterpart was today “much more pressured” than at the beginning of the offensive due to the Ukrainian resistance, but also to the sanctions adopted by international organizations.
Putin’s isolation during the Covid-19 crisis
This war started on February 24 by Vladimir Putin “has no rational explanation” in the eyes of Emmanuel Macron. “I think it is a series of resentments: it is a strategy of hegemony in the region and I would say that it is a consequence of Covid-19 and Putin’s isolation,” the French president confides to CNN.
In particular, he denies continuing to seek dialogue with Vladimir Putin. “For years, especially with Angela Markel, we were convinced that spending so much time trying to implement the Minsk agreements was the best way to avoid the current situation,” he said.
According to Emmanuel Macron, the status quo it broke in a “post-Covid” situation. However, she persists in wanting to communicate with the Kremlin. “Thanks to this dialogue we were able to count on the visit of the IAEA to the Zaporizhia plant, for example”, defends the president.
“It is the world order that is at stake”
At the podium of the United Nations, several leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, called for a reform of the organization, in particular in the face of Russian blockades on the conflict in Ukraine. “We need to reform the UN, but at the moment there is no alternative or more effective order, that is how our world works,” adds the head of state.
However, he says he is “hopeful” that countries like China and India will side with the West in this conflict. “You have to be respectful in exchanges, not give lessons,” he explains.
“We can convince them, we are different, but we can do it because it is the world order that is at stake,” adds the president.
“We must move from a world where interdependence and trade were a way to avoid wars, to a world where we must be autonomous and independent”, concludes Emmanuel Macron.
Source: BFM TV
