During a visit to Washington, French head of state Emmanuel Macron attempted to contain Donald Trump’s anti-Ukraine rhetoric. During the meeting, the US President continued to build up pressure and spoke of “World War III” – while Macron wants to prevent peace through “capitulation”.
During his visit to the White House, Macron sought the broadest possible consensus with Trump. He said that the US President had “good reason” to talk to Putin. He also assured the US President that the Europeans wanted to further increase their defense spending and were prepared to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
Macron and Trump were emphatically cordial with each other. The US President praised his “special” relationship with his French counterpart. Macron emphasized that he and Trump were striving for a “stable long peace” in Ukraine.
“We want a quick deal”
However, the French president described Russia as an “aggressor” in Trump’s presence and insisted that Kiev must be involved in talks on ending the war. “We want peace. But this peace cannot mean the capitulation of Ukraine,” he said at a joint press conference with Trump.
The meeting was emphatically exuberant.
A ceasefire must be linked to security guarantees for Kiev, Macron emphasized: “We want a quick deal, but not a fragile deal.” The President went even further out on a limb when he told Trump’s Fox News channel: “There could be a ceasefire in the coming weeks.”
US president warns of “World War III”
Trump had previously said that an end to the war could come “within weeks”. The US President also saw even greater conflicts looming: “Otherwise it will come to a point where it doesn’t end with these two. Other countries are already very involved and that would really lead to a very big war, World War III. But we will not let that happen.”
Macron, for his part, demanded that a deployment of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine – as offered by France and the UK – must be accompanied by “back-up” from the USA. Trump, however, remained vague on this point. However, he did say that Putin would “accept” a deployment of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. He had asked the Kremlin leader about this and he had “no problem with it”.
Meanwhile, in a television interview, Putin himself conceded a role for the European states in negotiations on a settlement of the Ukraine conflict. “The Europeans, but also other countries, have the right and the opportunity to participate – and we respect that,” he said.
The rouble should roll again
On Monday, during Macron’s visit to Washington, Trump also announced that he was in “serious” talks with Putin not only about ending the war, but also about comprehensive economic cooperation. The talks revolved around “big deals on economic development”, the US President wrote in his online service Truth Social.
A little later in the TV interview, Putin spoke out in favor of US investments for the exploitation of raw materials in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. “We are ready to invite foreign partners to our new historical territories that have been returned to Russia,” said the Kremlin leader. Russia is ready “to cooperate with our partners, including the Americans, in the new regions”.