Macron said he shared US President Joe Biden’s position in regard to the war in Ukraine.
Read also: Macron seeking new EU security architecture after war in Ukraine ends
“We are in line with (Biden), helping Ukrainians to counter (Russian) strikes on their civilian infrastructure, to put pressure on Russia so it returns to the negotiating table, to eliminate escalation in regard to civil nuclear power and, finally, to consider new security architecture that includes guarantees for Russia,” the French leader said.
Reuters reported Macron thinks Europe should prepare its future security architecture.
Read also: France starts work on special tribunal on Russian crimes of aggression
“This means that one of the essential points we must address – as President Putin has always said – is the fear that NATO comes right up to its doors, and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia,” Macron said.
“That topic will be part of the topics for peace, so we need to prepare what we are ready to do, how we protect our allies and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia the day it returns to the negotiating table.”
However, he stressed it’s up to Ukrainians to decide about peace talks.
Read also: Ukraine’s allies will never force it into negotiating with Russia, Macron says
“Do you think when Alsace-Lorraine was seized (by Germany), we would like some world leader to advise us what we had to do?… It’s up to Ukrainian people to decide about conditions and time frame, not us,” the president said.
He also added that the world has to support Ukraine with weapons. He said France will donate “additional weapons,” but not those that allow “to attack Russia on its territory.”
The French president also claimed he was going to negotiate the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) with Putin.
Read also: IAEA adopts resolution urging Russia to withdraw troops from Zaporizhzhya NPP, says Reuters
“I will talk with Putin again after the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visits me,” he said.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
