Macron Says US No Longer Neutral on Ukraine War
Macron said the US no longer acts as a neutral mediator in the Ukraine conflict, while Zakharova blamed Paris for the deadlock with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the United States had changed its role in the Ukrainian conflict and no longer positions itself as a neutral mediator. According to him, Washington has officially confirmed its support for Kyiv and for Ukraine’s territorial integrity together with other G7 allies.
Macron made the statement in Antibes at a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following the 36th Franco-Italian summit. Footage of his remarks was broadcast by the TG1 television channel.
The French leader linked the change in the U.S. position to decisions made at the G7 summit in Evian. Macron noted that, for the first time, Washington had signed a document directly stating that the United States no longer holds a neutral position as a mediator, but stands on the side of supporting Ukraine.
According to the French president, this step marked an important restoration of unity within the G7. Macron separately stated that Donald Trump’s administration is officially committing itself to further military and energy support for Ukraine, as well as to maintaining sanctions pressure on Russia.
Against this backdrop, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had earlier sharply criticized Paris’s policy. She placed personal responsibility on Macron for the current deadlock in bilateral relations between Russia and France.
Zakharova contrasted the current course of the French leadership with the line pursued by General Charles de Gaulle, whose alliance with the USSR, she said, allowed France to take its place among the great powers. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described the current team in Paris as having lost its sense of reality.
According to Zakharova, the French authorities allow themselves to openly discuss escalation, while Paris’s actions in the UN Security Council have effectively turned into serving other countries' geopolitical interests. She said that this very policy had brought France to a state of hybrid war with Russia.