French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Saturday night that he wants Russia to be “defeated” in its war on Ukraine, but not to be “crushed”.
His remarks came on his way back Friday evening from the Munich Security Conference, where he urged allies to step up their support for Ukraine and underscored France’s readiness for a protracted conflict.
“I want Russia to be defeated in Ukraine and I want Ukraine to be able to defend its position,” he told Le Journal du Dimanche and Le Figaro and Radio France Internationale.
“I think this will not end militarily in the end,” he added, predicting that neither side would be able to fully win the conflict.
And the French President continued, “I do not think, like some, that Russia should be completely defeated, and attacked on its territory. These observers want above all to crush Russia. This has never been France’s position and never will be.”
Macron considered that “what is required today is for Ukraine to launch a military attack to disrupt the Russian front in order to return to negotiations.”
And he expressed his belief that “all options other than Vladimir Putin in the current system” seem to him “worse” than the Russian president, referring to strong men such as the head of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, or the head of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
And the French President asked, “Do we sincerely believe that a democratic solution will emerge from the current Russian civil society after these years of restrictions and in the midst of the conflict? I sincerely hope so, but I do not believe in it.”
