Volodymyr Zelenski: Macron and Merkel dress Ukrainian president in full tension between Russia and NATO | International

Paris says Friday’s meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenski in Elise has been agreed for weeks and is therefore not directly linked to the new escalation between Moscow and Kiev. Even so, France wanted to take advantage of the bilateral meeting, which included German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the second time by videoconference, to try to “lower the tension again” that threatens the area, after the recent mobilization of troops. Russians on the border with Ukraine and multiple ceasefire violations in the Donbas region in recent weeks. An agenda that does not necessarily coincide with that of Zelensky, who on the eve of the Elysee meeting warned that he was arriving in Paris to demand a “clear” French policy in particular and a European one in general regarding his country. And that means, he stressed, that Kiev is “invited” to join the European Union and NATO.

During the meeting, Zelensky pledged to reduce tensions with Moscow, and both he and Macron and Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops from the border with Ukraine and issued a joint statement to clarify their intentions. . “I want the four of us to participate” to discuss “the security situation in eastern Ukraine and the unemployment of our territories,” the Ukrainian president said after the meeting, stressing that the border situation is “brutal.” As for the Russian side, the Kremlin called on Merkel and Macron to “use their influence” in Ukraine to mediate the conflict and convey to Zelensky “the need for an unconditional ceasefire,” the Kremlin spokesman said. Dmitri Peskov.

“I think that the European policy towards Ukraine should be 100% clear,” Zelenski said in an interview with the newspaper. Le Figaro. “If the EU and Macron really consider us members of the European family, they must act accordingly. It’s time to stop talking and make decisions (…) We can’t stay in the waiting room indefinitely (…) It’s time to move faster and invite ourselves to join the EU and NATO, no we want them to have to beg, “added the Ukrainian president, who said he hoped France would” support “those aspirations.

Zelensky’s demands seem to go beyond the plans of the Elysee, who, according to reports, wanted to focus above all on “reducing the tension” in the conflict zone and denied that the president had come to Paris to ask for help. “We have a lot of respect for Ukrainian sovereignty. We do not consider you to be seeking support. He comes to see his counterpart, “government sources told reporters before the meeting.

“Our job, our goal and our conviction is to reduce tension, it is what we are looking for (…) and to whom we dedicate a lot of energy, including the president [Macron]”They added in front of a meeting that, as they acknowledged, takes place in a” particular context “of renewed special tension.

On Wednesday, the Russian Navy began military exercises in the Black Sea, a move that anticipated the announced arrival of two American warships in the area, considered geostrategic by Russia and NATO. In the end, the United States decided to back down, which did not reduce Moscow’s doubts. In this area is the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in an illegal referendum in 2014 and whose sovereignty Ukraine has supported the EU since then. The maritime deployment took place after Moscow’s decision a few days before mobilizing troops a hundred kilometers from the border with Ukraine, which in turn strengthened its units in the east and near Crimea.

Tensions have also risen diplomatically. On Thursday, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, warned Moscow that its government reserves the right to respond “if Russia crosses the red line” in a complaint about multiple ceasefire violations in the Donbas. Zelenski limited in Le Figaro: “We will not give up an inch of Donbas land, because it belongs to us. Regardless of the price “, thus increasing the threats that concern Paris a lot.

“Our fundamental goal is to maintain the ceasefire and discuss how to move forward in the political process (…) in order to turn the page on this war and achieve a political solution to the conflict,” official French sources said. Efforts in which Paris wants to involve Berlin again, the other European member of the so-called Normandy Quartet – the diplomatic format for the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements made up of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France. Therefore, after a bilateral working lunch at Elisha, Macron and Zelenski intend to extend the meeting with the German Chancellor, who will connect by video conference, according to the schedule.

However, the proposal does not seem to excite the Ukrainian guest, for whom the Normandy quartet is kept alive only by “artificial respiration”, because “Russia blocks everything”. His statements to the French newspaper also do not pave the way for Elisha, who probably for this reason has not yet revealed whether there will be statements by the leaders after the meeting or even a joint statement.