Photo: archive, BGNES
French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants Russia to lose the war in Ukraine, but not to be crushed, France Press reported.
“I am convinced that in the end (the conflict) will not end in a military way,” Macron said in an interview he gave to several journalists. He added that “all options without Vladimir Putin in the current system” (of international relations) “seem worse” to him than the options with the Russian president.
On the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Macron went to the Kremlin to see Putin in an attempt to dissuade him from attacking the neighboring country. After the start of the war, the French president continued to maintain contact with his Russian counterpart, drawing criticism, especially from Kiev, for not condemning the aggression strongly enough. Recently, however, Macron has hardened his stance towards Russia, and France has supplied weapons to Ukraine.
(BTA, Nikolay Stanoev)
