French President Emmanuel Macron said that only Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could negotiate on behalf of his country, warning in a newspaper interview on Friday against a peace deal with the Russian President Vladimir Putin that could have repercussions for the world.
"A peace that is a capitulation is bad news for everyone," Macron told the Financial Times (FT).
"The only question at this stage is whether President Putin is genuinely, sustainably, and credibly willing to agree to a ceasefire on this basis.
"After that, it’s up to the Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia,” Macron said.
The interview appears amid concerns in Europe that the US president Donald Trump and Putin are trying to negotiate the future of the continent’s security over the heads of European leaders.
On Thursday, Mark Rutte, the head of the 32-nation defence bloc Nato, insisted that Ukraine must be closely involved in any peace talks.
His comments, which echoed statements from a meeting in Paris of European foreign ministers, came as European defence chiefs gathered in the Belgian capital Brussels to begin preparations for the Nato summit in The Hague in June.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Spain said on Wednesday night that any peace deal in Ukraine must come with the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.
"There will be no just and lasting peace in Ukraine without the participation of Europeans," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the Paris meeting.
Stages
The agenda of the defence chiefs was overshadowed by Trump's move to engage with Putin over a peace deal for Ukraine.
In their first confirmed contact since Trump's return to the White House, Trump said he had held a lengthy and highly productive conversation with Putin who ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky is expected to meet the US vice-president, JD Vance, at a security conference in Munich on Friday. The Ukrainian leader insists Ukraine must be a part of any negotiations for a peace deal.
Vance is due to outline the American position on its commitment to security in Europe.
On Thursday evening, Trump used the press conference with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accuse Europe of skimping in its support for Ukraine.
Trump said: “We had some talks and we told the European Union, we told the Nato people – largely they overlap – you have to pay more money because it’s unfair what we’re doing.
“We’re doing a tremendous amount more, we’re probably 200 billion dollars more going into Ukraine, using for Ukraine to fight, and Europe has not really carried its weight in terms of the money.
"It’s not equitable and we want to see a counterbalance. We want to have them put up more money. They have to do that.”
Macron told the FT it would be up to Ukraine to discuss issues of territory and sovereignty but added that Europe had a role to play in regional security.
“It is up to the international community, with a specific role for the Europeans, to discuss security guarantees and, more broadly, the security framework for the entire region,” he said. “That is where we have a role to play.”
(with newsires)
