PARIS, March 2 – French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday condemned “lies” spread by the Russian government to justify the war in Ukraine, but said he would continue to keep in touch with President Vladimir Putin to try to achieve a ceasefire.
Macron, who led European efforts to prevent the war by visiting Putin in Moscow last month and mediating over the phone between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and the Russian leader, has strongly accused the Kremlin of military action.
“Only by passing on his international commitments one by one did President Putin choose war,” Macron said in a nationwide address to the French people, hailing Zelensky as the face of “honor, freedom and courage.”
“This war is not a conflict between the West and Russia, as some would like us to believe. There is no NATO base in Ukraine. These are lies. Russia is not aggression, it is the aggressor. This war is not a fight against Nazism … it is a lie, “Macron added.
Russia says it is conducting a “special military operation” aimed at disarming Ukraine and capturing “neo-Nazis” whom Putin says rule the country.
Macron, who spoke less than two months before the upcoming presidential election, said he would continue to defend France’s values and position in the world.
Rising energy prices will inevitably affect the French economy, he warned.
“Tomorrow the price of filling the tank, the amount on the heating bills, the price of some products will probably be even higher,” he said.
But the price will not be born only in the short term, Macron said, adding that the war in Ukraine marks a new era in which the war in Europe was a reality.
“The war in Europe no longer belongs only to history textbooks, it is here. “Democracy is no longer indisputable, it is being challenged before our eyes,” Macron said.
Macron also said that in addition to his domestic plans to make France less dependent on foreign energy by building new nuclear power plants, he said he would urge the EU at European level to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
“The war in Ukraine marks a break for our continent and our generation,” he said.
Report by Tasilo Humel and Sudip Kar-Gupta; writing by Michelle Rose; Edited by Richard Loff and Toby Chopra
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