French President Emmanuel Macron, 44, has become the only European voice calling for a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine. If you ask any of Macron’s NATO colleagues, especially those in the Baltic States, they’re hell-bent on defeating the Russian Federation for the purpose of never again letting 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin run roughshod over any EU state. When it comes to Ukraine, Macron has tried to keep the line of communication open when the rest of the EU has slammed the door on resolving the crisis through diplomatic means. Macron’s recent suggestion that Russia be offered security guarantees was met with contempt in Washington, Kiev and most EU capitals, suggesting that Putin needed a new security guarantees from NATO to lower tensions in the region. Putin asked Biden for new security guarantees for months before the Feb. 24 invasion.
Only Macron is willing to stick out his neck on coming to a mutually beneficial plan to end the Ukraine War. Macron sees no end in sight as long a his NATO colleagues want to vanquish the Russian Federation, as 80-year-old President Joe Biden and 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Macron is the only EU leader so far to come out in favor of a ceasefire and peace plan to end the Ukraine War. Talking about security guarantees for Moscow prompted a vile response from former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik. Ukraine’s top policy aid Mykhailo Podoyak said that the world needed security guarantees from Russia, not the other way around. When it comes to former Soviet satellites, now part of NATO, they want only revenge against Russia for years of intimidation. Macron knows his position and isn’t likely to acquiesce to the warmongers looking for more revenge.
Macron isn’t going to back down from his efforts to keep lines of communication open with Putin and the Kremlin. Watching the U.S. and other EU countries burn bridges with Moscow, Macron isn’t inclined to back down. “I don’t think we should make a big deal of that and create controversies where there’s none,” Macron said, responding to criticism from EU allies over his suggestion to offer Putin new security guarantees. “I’ve always said . . . that in the peace negotiations at the end, there will be territorial issues, and they belong to the Ukrainians, an there will be issues of collective security for the whole region,” Macron said. Ukraine knows that France has supported Kiev’s needs for humanitarian and military aid. “In foreign policy, you should never say everything out loud. Being right its not enough,” said former French Amb. to Washington Gerard Araud, saying timing is everything.
Macron believes that no matter what the differences, Russia should not be humiliated or vanquished by foreign powers. Macron spoke to the U.N. General Assembly in a widely praised speech, saying that neutral countries weren’t saying enough about how to end the war. Macron isn’t concerned about approval from his NATO allies only doing what’s right to preserve the peace. No one really wants WW III on the European Continent, certainly not Macron. Hosted last week at a state dinner at the White House, Macron walked a fine line agreeing with Biden about Ukraine’s right of self-determination, while, at the same time, looking for ways out of the conflict. Macron understands sensitivities in former Soviet satellites, worried like in Georgia and Ukraine, that Putin could threaten sovereignty. Macron wants to play peacemaker, looking at both sides to resolve the conflict.
Former Soviet satellites, especially the Baltic States, want the U.S. to pour it on with Russia. Macron sees the damage to the world order done when the U.S. has moved from a Cold War to fighting a hot proxy war against the Kremlin. Macron accepts that there are differences between global power in Russia and China. Under Biden’s leadership, Macron has watched a balanced world foreign policy turned into a protracted war seeking a zero sum game of winners and losers. When Macron says any negotiation would involve territory, he’s referring to Ukraine realizing that to end the conflict it would require concessions at the peace table. Biden and Zelensky aren’t ready to accept, that in the grand scheme of things, it’s better to end the Ukraine War and find ways to coexist with Russia. Macron doesn’t accept the idea of perpetual warfare because neither side is willing to compromise.
Macron agrees with 63-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who said recently he doesn’t want to see world powers, like Russia and China, broken off into blocs, repeating the worst parts of the Cold War. Scholz hasn’t gone out on a limb like Macron, saying that at new peace architecture must me negotiated with the Russian Federation and NATO. If you look at the Baltic States, they’re ready to pick a fight with Russia or let the U.S. and Ukraine attempt to neutralize the Russian Federation. Macron sees continued hostilities as endangering the European Continent, doing nothing to return to normal diplomacy. No other EU leader has tried to keep the doors of communication open with the Kremlin. Beating the war drums feels right for Ukraine but doesn’t add to the peace and security on the European Continent. Macron wants both sides to work together at the peace table.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
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