Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to denounce a genocide in Ukraine by the Russian army was described as “very hurtful” by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I will do my best to raise this issue with Mr. Macron today,” he said at a news conference. “If not, then tomorrow when he finds time.”
Emmanuel Macron decided earlier in the day not to use the term “genocide,” which his American counterpart Joe Biden is using to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of doing it in Ukraine. “I would say that Russia unilaterally unleashed a brutal war, that the Russian army has now been found to have committed war crimes and that it is now necessary to find those responsible,” the French president said.
“I’m not sure the escalation of words serves the cause”
“It’s crazy what’s happening, it’s incredibly brutal (…) but at the same time I’m looking at the facts and I want to try as much as possible to continue to stop this war and restore peace, so I’m not sure whether the escalation of words serves the cause,” he continued.
The spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy, Oleg Nikolenko, was quick to react, calling Emmanuel Macron’s position “disappointing”.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden first accused Vladimir Putin of committing genocide in Ukraine, a word previously used by Volodymy Zelensky but never used by the US government. On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke for the first time about the genocide in Ukraine.
Russia, for its part, defends itself by denouncing a staging and fake staged by the Ukrainians to harm it.