Security guarantees for Russia: Macron rejects “controversies where there are none”
The French president on Tuesday denied any controversy “where there is none” after commenting on future security guarantees for Russia, which were poorly received in Kyiv and the east of the country. “I think we shouldn’t make big cases, try to see controversy where there is none,” he said upon arrival at the EU-Balkans summit in Tirana. “I’ve always said the same thing, that is, by the end of the peace talks there will be territorial subjects in Ukraine owned by Ukrainians, and there will be collective security subjects throughout the region,” he added. “It’s the same thing I said from the beginning, the same thing that we worked on and discussed in February, March, by the way,” he continued, referring to attempts, notably on his part, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin on March 7 February in the Kremlin to give Russia guarantees of NATO presence on its borders to try to avoid war in Ukraine.
Mr Macron explained on Saturday that he had spoken to US President Joe Biden about “the security architecture we want to live in tomorrow”, noting that it was necessary to give “guarantees of our own security” to Russia at the Day it returns to the negotiating table. “One of the main points is the fear that NATO will come to their doors, it is the use of weapons that can threaten Russia,” he then explained on the French channel TF1.
Those remarks have drawn criticism from Ukraine and some Eastern European countries, which have taken a particularly strong stance on Russia, accusing Mr Macron of being too lenient or making too many openings to Moscow. “Someone wants to give security guarantees to a terrorist and murderous state? ‘ Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksi Danilov, tweeted, calling it ‘carpet diplomacy’.
For Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz, Mr Macron is “making a mistake in saying what he says” and the West must adhere to a “policy of isolation” from Moscow. “Vladimir Putin has a mental structure, which means that every attempt at contact, every reassurance strengthens him mentally,” he pounded home in an interview with RMF Radio.
Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks told the Financial Times that the idea of giving security guarantees to Russia “is tantamount to falling into the trap of Putin’s narrative that the West and Ukraine are to blame for the war.” The end of the Ukraine conflict will be achieved by offering “security guarantees for Ukraine”, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday, adding that “we will speak for Russia later”.