The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, stressed this Friday that his country’s objective is a ceasefire and a Russian military withdrawal from the entire territory of Ukraine, after the Moscow’s announcement that it will focus its military operation on Donbasthe eastern area of the former Soviet republic.
“Our objective and obsession is the ceasefire and the ceasefire over the entire territory, first. The second thing we must come to is the withdrawal of Russian troops and the complete withdrawal of the entire territory. These two objectives are what we are pursuing”, said the politician at a press conference after the European summit held between yesterday and today in Brussels.
He added that as long as these two goals are not achieved, they will continue to apply sanctions to Russia, help Ukraine and negotiate.
In any case, he admitted that a Russian operation “on all sides simultaneously has been thwarted by the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people.”
“It is the translation, simply, of an election in the face of the operational difficulties encountered,” he said of Russia’s decision to concentrate on Donbas.
civilian evacuation
Macron also recalled that France has decided, together with Turkey and Greece, to launch a humanitarian operation in the city of Mariupol, one of the most affected during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to evacuate all those who want to leave that city.
He assured that he will speak about it “in the next few hours” with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and that today he held “very concrete” discussions with the mayor of Mariupol, “in transparency and connection with President (Volodimir) Zelenski and the authorities Ukrainians”. She added that France also has its own teams “that coordinate” and that they are going to negotiate “with the Russian side.”
On Russia’s decision to accept gas payments only in rubles, the French president indicated that “all the signed texts are clear; is prohibited”.
“It is not possible today to do what is requested and it is not contractual, and I do not think there is today a will to break those contracts on the Russian side,” he said, adding that France is in favor of respecting the contracts and paying them in the currency foreseen in them.
Regarding the collective purchases of gas by the European Commission, similarly to what was done for the acquisition of vaccines against the coronavirus, he considered that it is “the best instrument to lower gas prices”. (I)