French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed, on Wednesday, his intention to "stay in touch" with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, with the aim of "persuading him to lay down arms" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The French president said in a televised speech, "I have chosen to remain in contact, as much as I can and as necessary, with President Putin to seek relentlessly to persuade him to give up his arms" and "to avoid the spread and expansion of the conflict as much as possible."
He added, "Russia is not subject to aggression, it is the aggressor... This war is not a conflict between NATO and Russia... let alone the fight against Nazism, this is a lie."
"We are not at war against Russia," he said, stressing that "today we are on the side of all Russians who refuse to wage an unjust war in their name and have the spirit of responsibility and the courage to defend peace."
The French president added, "We all know what connects us with this great European people, with the Russian people who made great sacrifices during World War II to save Europe from hell."
On the other hand, Macron said that the informal European summit that will be held on March 10 and 11 in Versailles "will have to decide" on the "new economic model" of the European Union, which became necessary due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"To this brutal return of tragic events in history, we must respond with historic decisions... Europe has already shown its unity and determination. It has entered a new era," he said.
He said that the informal European summit, which is being organized in the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, within the framework of the French rotating presidency, will have to take decisions on "Europe's energy independence strategy ... and European defense."
I will defend the European energy independence strategy...because we can no longer depend on others, especially on Russian gas for transportation, heating and running our factories,” he said.
The summit was set to focus on the "European Growth and Investment Model 2030", following the broad recovery plan initiated by the European Union in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
Europe, Macron said, "must agree from now on to pay the price of peace, freedom and democracy. It must invest more to reduce dependence on other continents and be able to make its own decisions, in other words, to strengthen its independence and sovereignty."
