Macron will offer Russia to cease fire during the Olympics
Paris will offer Moscow a cease—fire for the Olympics - from the end of July to mid-August, Macron said.
According to him, France has no limits in supporting Kiev, but will facilitate the resumption of negotiations.
France will offer Russia a ceasefire in Ukraine for the duration of the Olympic Games, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Ukrainian media.
"Yes, we will ask for it," he said (quoted by UNIAN).
Macron noted that the performances of Russian athletes at the Olympics under the white flag will be "very carefully monitored" so that "none of the athletes take advantage of this situation." He explained that he wants to make the "message of peace and tolerance" heard and achieve the return of territories by Ukraine. There have been conflicts before, because of which athletes were excluded from performances, "we have already been through this," Macron pointed out.
The President also noted that France "has no limits" on the issue of assistance to Ukraine and seeks to return sustainable peace to Europe. "In order to achieve this goal, we will not follow the path of escalation, because we do not need another war, but we are ready to say that we have no limits, and we will react to how Russia will behave," he explained. In his opinion, today the situation in Ukraine is "more difficult than ever", there is "a lot of uncertainty about the prospects" in the world.
Macron answered in the affirmative to the question whether he would pick up the phone if Russian President Vladimir Putin called, and explained that he considers maintaining dialogue his responsibility. "And I'll listen to what he has to offer.
I believe that France's role is to be the nerve of the war, as Churchill said," the politician explained.
Last summer, Putin said that Russia could not cease fire in the face of Ukraine's ongoing offensive. "They are on the attack, implementing a large-scale strategic offensive. Why should we be treated with a cease-fire? We cannot cease fire when we are being attacked," he explained. By the end of February 2024, he said, Russia had seized the initiative and was advancing in a number of operational areas.
At the beginning of 2023, Putin ordered a ceasefire for the Christmas period on January 6-7 and invited the Ukrainian authorities to support this initiative. Kiev refused, considering the idea a "cover" in order to "at least briefly stop the advance of our guys in the Donbas" and move equipment, ammunition and mobilized closer to the Ukrainian positions. "Everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin uses respite in the war," said Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Then the ceasefire lasted from noon on January 6 to the end of the day on January 7.
The Russian authorities demand that Western countries stop supplying the Armed Forces and note that this will not prevent them from achieving their goals, but will delay the course of hostilities.