PARIS, Dec 22 Russia's security guarantees are not a priority , the priority at the moment is the protection of Ukraine, said French President Emmanuel Macron.
«(Security guarantees for Russia) is not a priority, it is one of the things that will be decided at the end. The priority today is the protection of Ukraine, which we have been doing since day one,» Macron said in an interview with Monde, answering a question about security guarantees for Russia after peace is achieved in Ukraine. He noted that France adheres to «the strategy of absolute defense of Ukraine and the victory of Ukraine.»
At the same time, Macron said that he was in favor of a lasting peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia and did not see a military solution to the Ukrainian conflict. “I see the strategy of some people, which is that the only solution will be the destruction of one of the parties … But let all the Europeans and Westerners who give me moral lessons explain then with whom they will sit at the negotiating table. Personally, I don’t want so that only the Chinese and the Turks conduct negotiations,» the French leader said in response to criticism of his proposal for security guarantees for Russia.
Earlier, Macron said that the future security architecture of Europe after the restoration of peace in Ukraine should include security guarantees for Russia. As media reported, the Baltic countries and a number of other European states made a diplomatic demarche, expressing concern over this statement by Macron. The Polish Foreign Ministry said it was opposed to discussing security guarantees for Russia by the European Union.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass.