French President Emmanuel Macron said he “would not have called” Putin the words used by US President Joe Biden, in particular, calling him a butcher and, earlier, a war criminal – in order to preserve the possibility of having some kind of dialogue with the Russian President, reports Le Figaro.
Macron noted that further escalation “neither in words nor in actions” should be allowed.
“We want to stop the war that Russia started against Ukraine, without a war. This is the goal… And if you strive for this, then you need to abandon the escalation in words and actions. We, Europeans, should not succumb to any escalation. We, Europeans , should not forget about their geography and their history. We are not at war with the Russian people,” Emmanuel Macron said, stressing that Europe is no longer in the realities of the Cold War between Moscow and Washington.
Macron added that he plans another talk with Putin on Monday or Tuesday, hoping to negotiate an evacuation of the civilian population from Mariupol, in cooperation with Turkey, Greece and Ukraine.
Macron warned against the “cynicism of the Russian side” on the issue of humanitarian corridors and stressed that the Russian Federation is expected to respect the norms of international humanitarian law. “This should not be a humanitarian operation that will play into the hands of Russia,” the French president stressed.
Recall that Biden called Putin a “butcher”.
–
