French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that European leaders should be present at the planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.
According to AFP, Macron made this remark during a press conference in Slovenia, where he was participating in a summit of Mediterranean states.
“From the moment they discuss the fate of Ukraine, the Ukrainians should be at the table. From the moment they discuss what impacts the security of Europe the Europeans should be at the table,” Macron said.
Nevertheless, the French president said he welcomes the news that Trump and Putin plan to meet.
On Friday, a highly-anticipated meeting between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House failed to live up to the hopes it had inspired.
Trump, despite appearing to shift his stance dramatically in Ukraine’s favor last month, seems to have made yet another u-turn – refusing to grant Ukraine’s request to buy US Tomahawk long-range missiles despite hinting on several occasions that he would.
Although he later described their meeting as “cordial,” Trump reportedly told Zelensky that he had never intended to send Tomahawks to Ukraine. He is also said to have sworn at Zelensky after the president said he would not concede Ukraine’s eastern territory to Putin, before repeating a Kremlin threat to “destroy Ukraine” if Zelensky refused Moscow’s terms.
Zelensky, arriving late for a press conference scheduled after his meeting with Trump, apologized and told reporters that he had been speaking with Ukraine’s European allies.
Macron has long advocated for Europe to become less reliant on the US for its defense. France was instrumental in establishing the Coalition of the Willing, a group of (primarily European) countries that have expressed their readiness to contribute towards Ukraine’s post-war security guarantees.
Unlike Trump, Macron does not believe that Putin is ready to end the war that he started. As long ago as February, Macron urged Trump not to be “weak” with Putin – describing the Russian dictator as “an ogre at our gates” in August.