As Russia warns of a “real” threat of a third world war over the conflict in Ukraine, France’s European partners are looking to French President Emmanuel Macron to pick up his leadership role in the crisis, which he set aside during the end of his re-election campaign.
A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Macron on his election victory, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that World War III could break out over Ukraine.
"The danger is serious, it is real, you can't underestimate it," he told the Interfax news agency, ahead of a summit of Western leaders on sending arms to Ukraine.
Lavrov also said peace talks with Ukraine would continue, and criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of only "pretending" to negotiate.
Macron, one of the few Western leaders to be still in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he ordered troops to invade Ukraine, has reduced the number of conversations after the discovery of alleged Russian war crimes in the town of Bucha, near Kiev, in early April.
He had also stepped back from his diplomatic leadership of the European Union in the last days of his re-election campaign. Now that he has secured his re-election, he will be at the helm of crafting the EU’s strategy.
Following tradition, Macron’s first trip abroad will likely be to Berlin, where he will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the two might travel together at a later date to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy.
Macron, who spoke to Zelenskyy and Scholz within hours of his victory, said he would travel to Ukraine only if it would have “a useful impact.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the United States has invited over 40 countries to attend a security summit on Tuesday in Germany to discuss sending further arms to Ukraine.
For months, Zelensky has been asking Western allies for heavy weapons, which he says would turn the tide of the war.
In a trip to Kyiv over the weekend, US Secretary Defence Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Zelensky and promised $700 million in new aid to Ukraine.
(with wires)
