WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Thursday he’s open to talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin even as he and French President Emmanuel Macron underscored their outrage over Moscow’s atrocities in its war against Ukraine.
At a White House news conference, Biden and Macron emphasized their solidarity against Putin’s war on Ukraine and vowed that they would continue to stand with other NATO allies in opposition to the war.
“We’re going to stand together against this brutality, and we’ll continue the strong support for the Ukrainian people,” Biden said.
Biden said he has no immediate plans to contact Putin but that he is prepared to meet with the Russian leader “if he has decided he’s looking for a way to end the war.”
“He hasn’t done that yet,” Biden said.
If that were to happen, Biden said, he would be “happy to sit down with Putin to see what he wants” or has in mind and would do so consultation with NATO allies, including France.
Macron, in Washington for a state visit, said he and Biden plan to spend the coming weeks and months looking to strengthen their support for Ukrainian troops and the Ukrainian people.
It’s extremely important for the U.S. to continue supporting Ukraine for the stability of the world, Macron said. France has increased its military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
“We will never urge the Ukrainians to make a compromise which will not be acceptable for them,” Macron said in English. “If we want a sustainable peace, we have to respect the Ukrainians to decide the moment and the conditions in which they will negotiate about their territory and their future.”
Macron said in French, through an English interpreter, that Ukraine has demonstrated a “genuine willingness” to discuss a negotiated end to the war, pointing to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposed 10-point peace plan. The “conditions” the Ukrainian president has set for talks are reasonable, given that Putin is the one waging war, Macron said.
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On a separate matter, Biden and Macron signaled a détente over subsidies that the Biden administration is offering to U.S. manufacturers through the Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping climate and health care law that is one of Biden’s signature achievements.
Macron considers the subsidies – provided to U.S.-made products – as protectionist and argues that they are hurting European manufacturers.
“We can work out some of the differences that exist, I’m confident,” Biden said, stressing that it was never his intention to exclude European countries.
Macron said the two leaders agreed to “resynchronize our approaches” for investing in emerging industries and stressed that he doesn’t think the U.S. deliberately tried to shut out European companies.
Previously, Macron had been blunter during a reception at the French embassy Wednesday night, when he complained that the subsidies “will fragment the West because they create such differences between the U.S. and Europe.”
Macron arrived with his wife, Brigitte, at the White House early Thursday during a pomp-filled ceremony to kick off his second state visit to the Washington. Later Thursday, the Macrons will be feted during a White House state dinner – the first of Biden’s presidency.
Macron was also the first foreign leader bestowed with the honor during the Trump administration.
Macron’s visit to Washington comes just one year after a diplomatic quarrel between the two longtime allies over a submarine deal the Biden administration struck with Australia and the U.K. Australia canceled an agreement to buy submarines from the French after signing the defense pact with the U.S. and Britain.
Macron was so furious that he took the extraordinary step of sending the French ambassador to the U.S. back to Paris.
Earlier Thursday, during an Oval Office meeting between the two leaders, Biden heaped praise on Macron.
“Emmanuel is not just the leader of France, he’s one of the leaders of Europe,” he said. “He’s been very outspoken, and he has been very, very commanding in Europe.
Macron said Biden’s decision to honor him with the first state visit of the Biden administration is “the best evidence of this, indeed, very long-term friendship and partnership.”
“When we look at our common history, this friendship always prevailed – with quite good results, by the way,” the French leader said.
Michael Collins and Francesca Chambers cover the White House. Follow Collins on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS and Chambers @fran_chambers.
