Macron launches an all-out attack on Russia

UPDATE DAY

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered an indictment against Russia on Friday, hammering that his “aggression” in Ukraine must “fail” and accusing Vladimir Putin of having deprived his country of the “authority” that he had promised to return to him after the fall of the USSR.

Russia bears “full responsibility for the calamitous effects” of the war in Ukraine, he launched during the conference on Munich Security, one week before the first anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.

The head of state was strongly criticized for having continued to dialogue with President Vladimir Putin after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and for having called for “not to humiliate Russia” in a future peace agreement.

Contacts have since ceased between the two leaders, even if the Élysée rejects any break in the dialogue, and Emmanuel Macron now calls for intensified support for Kyiv “until the victory” of Ukraine.

“Russia cannot and must not win this war and Russian aggression must fail, because we cannot accept the trivialization of the illegal use of force, because otherwise it is the whole of European security and more generally the world stability which would be called into question”, he asserted.

Emmanuel Macron then spoke of the “failures” according to him of Vladimir Putin for a year, “on the ground” military, by pushing Ukraine towards the EU and NATO and towards Russian public opinion.

“The basic assumption was that this aggression would be quick, that Ukraine would not resist, and that it was a matter of days, even weeks,” he said.

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The result of the Russian offensive, “is the consolidation of Ukraine and its strength” and the decision of Sweden and Finland to join NATO, which Russia has not ceased to denounce the installation at its borders, he said.

“Perhaps the most disturbing failure today is President Putin's failure to give back to Russia what he promised Russia is his authority in the world,” he added, pointing to a “poor” Russian gross domestic product and “declining” demographics.

“If you want to shore up your future, you need some wild dreams. Either you dream of growth and innovation, of a new Europe based on peace, education, or you revive the old imperial dream based on hegemony and aggression,” he said. /p>

He also accused Russia of being a “power of imbalance and disorder” not only in the former Soviet space, but also in the Middle East and Africa, “through” the mercenaries from the Wagner group. 

However, he also reaffirmed that the security of Europe could not be considered without involving Russia in it.

“There will be no of lasting and complete peace on our continent without us knowing how to embrace the Russian question, but in a lucid way, without any complacency”, he underlined.