Anastasia Pechenyuk21:28, 05/14/23

The aggressor country has already suffered a “geopolitical defeat,” the French president believes.

The Russian Federation has “already lost geopolitically” the war in Ukraine and is turning into a vassal of China. This was stated by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with the newspaper L’Opinion, published on the eve of a likely visit to Paris by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“De facto, she entered into a form of subordination to China and lost access to the Baltic, which was critically important, since it prompted Sweden and Finland to decide to join NATO. It was unimaginable two years ago. Therefore, this is already a geopolitical defeat,” Macron said.

Macron also stressed that Russia “should not win this war militarily” and negotiations with the Russians are inevitable.

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“It depends on us how to help the Ukrainians in the counteroffensive, how to prepare the issue of security guarantees in the negotiations that will inevitably take place. … I have always said that in the end the European security architecture will have to fully protect Ukraine. But it must also provide for non-confrontation with Russia and restoring a sustainable balance of power. But there are still many steps to be taken before we get there,” he added.

War in Ukraine – the role of Macron 

In April, French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to China to discuss with Xi Jinping an end to the war in Ukraine. 

It was expected that Macron would propose to Beijing a plan that would eventually lead to the start of negotiations between Ukraine and the aggressor.

Bloomberg wrote after Macron’s visit that his attempts to enlist China’s support were not successful. At the same time, after his trip, the first telephone conversation between Chinese leader Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place since the beginning of a full-scale war. Macron is believed to have facilitated this conversation.

During April, the French leader had at least three lengthy telephone conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart. During the last of these, the leaders, the OPU reported, discussed consolidating support for the Ukrainian peace formula. 

(C)UNIAN 2023