Zelensky confirmed in an interview that Macron had persuaded him to give up some of his territory so Putin could save some face.Photo: Zelensky Facebook, Dazhi Image/Archyde.com
It has been nearly three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been mediating Ukraine and Russia to try to resolve the war, has suggested that Ukraine “cede territory and seek peace”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in an interview that Macron had persuaded him to give up some of his territory so that Russian President Vladimir Putin could save some face, but Zelensky flatly refused on the spot.
When Zelensky was interviewed on the Italian TV channel “Rai” talk show “orta a Porta”, he was asked what he thought of Macron’s recent statement that “Europe must avoid humiliating Putin”, and he replied: Hong once asked Ukraine to make territorial concessions to save Putin some face, and there is an option to save face. Zelensky stated that “I will never lose face for Putin’s sake!” It is even more bitter that Macron is the one who “needs to find a way to save his face later.”
Zelensky pointed out that Macron’s attempts to find a step for Russia were futile, and that there was no reasonable way to end the war before Russia realized they should stop the war. He reiterated: “We will not hand over national territory to save face for Putin. This is not justified. We ask the Russian army to leave our territory, we are not on Russian territory.” And stressed that Ukraine will never Acknowledging that Crimea is part of Russia, let alone saving someone’s stuff by ceding territory, is a waste of time.
“Maybe Macron knew more than I did, I knew he wanted to achieve something by mediating between Ukraine and Russia, but he failed, and this failure was caused by Russia’s position,” Zelensky said. .” and criticized: “It is inappropriate for world leaders to suggest that I make sacrifices on Ukraine’s sovereignty in order to save Putin’s face.”
However, officials at the Elysée Palace, the French presidential palace, denied the incident, claiming Macron never asked Zelensky to make any concessions, stressing that the terms of negotiations with the Russians were up to the Ukrainians. Yet doubts arose from Macron, who has been in the eyes of eastern European countries since he reached out to Putin in 2019, when he advocated that the EU should move closer to Russia, despite his claims of “harsh dialogue” between Europe and Russia. Suspected of being too lenient towards Moscow.
European public opinion has been deeply skeptical that Macron has been speaking with Putin for some time, trying to persuade Putin to “change his mind” to stop the war, but Macron responded that “any possibility of stopping the war cannot be given up.” In his speech to the European Parliament on the 9th, Macron called for “not to succumb to the temptation of humiliation and the spirit of revenge”, but former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said bluntly on the 13th: “Putin is a dictator, he There’s no need to “save face” in front of anyone!”
The French Presidential Palace explained that Macron was referring to the humiliation of the Germans at the end of World War I, which directly led to Nazism and the disaster of World War II. Of course. It is puzzling to compare the situation in Russia today. In the opinion of some public opinion, Russia is an aggressor who burns, kills, loots and commits all kinds of evil in Ukraine. If one day Ukraine is defeated, it will be self-inflicted, how can there be “humiliation” at all?
Macron’s remarks were also seen as a veiled warning to the United States, which is providing massive military aid to Ukraine, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, returning from a visit to Kyiv, said he wanted to “always see Russia being attacked.” weaken”. US President Joe Biden declared on March 26 that “Putin cannot continue to be in power.” Compared with Macron’s statement today, it is clear that the US and France have diverged in their attitudes towards Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.