There must be a push for peace to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but French President Emmanuel Macron is skeptical that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to resolve the conflict.
“When I look at the situation and the facts, I don’t see President Putin very willing to get peace now,” Macron told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an exclusive interview Monday after a high-stakes White House meeting. “But perhaps I’m too pessimistic.”
He also said “the optimism of your president is to be taken seriously. So if he considers he can get a deal done, this is great news, and we have to do whatever we can to have a great deal.”
Macron insisted that the United States must apply pressure to Russia and Putin to find a resolution, including introducing more sanctions.
If there is no progress in the bilateral meeting President Donald Trump announced between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and if a trilateral meeting falls through, “or if the Russians don’t comply with this approach, yes, we have to increase the sanctions, secondary and primary sanctions,” Macron said.
“There is an aggressor, which is Russia. There is a country which decided to kill people, stole children and who refused a ceasefire and peace, so we cannot just create an equivalent situation between Ukraine and Russia.”
Ukraine must be given security guarantees to prevent any future Russian attacks that could prolong the conflict or start a new war, Macron said after his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and top European leaders.
“If you make any peace deal without security guarantees, Russia will never respect its words, will never comply with its own commitments,” Macron said.
He said it was promising that Trump noted that one of the key points from his meeting Friday with Putin was that he had accepted security guarantees for Ukraine.
Asked about the possibility of a ceasefire, Macron said, “I do hope,” noting that Russia carried out strikes in Ukraine even as the delegation of world leaders was in the United States.
“It’s impossible for a Ukrainian president and Ukrainian officials to have talks about peace as their country is being destroyed and as their civilians are being killed,” he said.
Putin kept up the pressure in the lead-up to the talks with deadly attacks in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia overnight, seemingly trying to push Zelenskyy to meet what are thought to be sweeping demands for Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
Macron said there should not be any land swapping, as Trump has suggested, particularly because there have been long periods during the Russian-started war that its military was not able make significant gains in taking control of Ukrainian land.
“I don’t see any swap in the proposal of the Russians, except a swap in comparison with what they wanted at the beginning,” he said.
“Now, when we speak about territory, it’s for the Ukrainian president and for the Ukrainian people to discuss about it,” he said.
A heavyweight team joined Macron at the White House, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, highlighting the importance of the talks.
Macron has been one of Europe’s most outspoken leaders about the war. He said in a speech in March that Russia posed a threat to the whole continent.
And on Monday, he again stressed that the threat extends well beyond Ukraine.
“What’s happening in Ukraine is extremely important for Ukrainian people, obviously, but for the whole security of Europe, because we speak about containing a nuclear power, which decided just not to respect international borders anymore. And I think it’s very important for your country, because it’s a matter of credibility,” he said. “The way we will behave in Ukraine will be a test for our collective credibility in the rest of the world.”
