Macron: Putin does not want talks to end the war in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Putin does not want to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. According to him, the Russian army is not advancing but losing territory and suffering heavy casualties.

Kushner and Witkoff travelled to see Putin in Russia after the three-way US–Ukrainian–Russian talks in Abu Dhabi, held on Tuesday and Wednesday. From Moscow they flew to Ireland, where the summit of the European Political Community and the European Union took place on Thursday and Friday. There they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Putin's tactics, according to Macron

“Putin does not want to negotiate. His army is not advancing. It is even losing territory and suffering heavy casualties,” Macron said. In his words, Putin's tactic is to “break Ukraine” by striking civilians and the energy system, in order to “plunge” the neighbouring country “into darkness” before winter.

“Our responsibility is to thwart these plans. That means maintaining our financial support and helping Ukraine protect its people, power plants and power grids,” Macron stressed. He described any thought of reducing aid as a sign of a “spirit of defeat” that would force Ukraine into an unjust peace and leave it vulnerable for a long time.

Security guarantees for Ukraine

“Ukraine, which has the largest conventional army in Europe, plays a key role together with NATO, within which it has its own place,” Macron said. He recalled that, through the so-called coalition of the willing, European countries are working on security guarantees for Ukraine, including international forces that could be deployed on its territory once the fighting ends.

“Now we need to go further and say clearly, including to the Russians, what we want after the end of the war. We also need to clarify what we expect from the United States in terms of European security over the long term,” Macron wrote. In his view, peace in Ukraine also determines “the security of our continent.”

This week, in a conversation with the Americans, Putin said that sending foreign troops to Ukraine after a peace deal is unacceptable to Moscow and that such a step would lead to a resumption of the fighting, which is now in its fifth year.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz