The French president said Russia has launched a brutal attack on Ukraine and the French must “accept the price of freedom” in the consequences of the war and aid for Ukrainians. Emmanuel Macron also assessed that his people would “need strength of spirit” in the coming times. Earlier, the French leader spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to send a mission to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron He gave a speech on Friday evening in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the landing operation in Provence during World War II. The president said that the thoughts of the French should be with the Ukrainians at a time when “imperial tendencies” are reviving.
– Our nation will need the strength of the spirit to look directly at the times to come, not to succumb to uncertainty (…) and accept the price that will have to be paid for freedom and for our values - said Macron.
French President Emmanuel MacronPAP / EPA / ERIC GAILLARD / POOL
Macron’s conversation with Putin
Earlier on Friday Macron was on the phone with the leader of Russia Vladimir Putinwho agreed to send an International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in the south Ukraine. Later that evening, a representative of the Elysée Palace told journalists that the conversation with Putin was justified because it was about nuclear safety.
French President Emmanuel MacronPAP / EPA / ERIC GAILLARD
Located in the city of Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant – the largest in Europe – was seized by Russian forces on the night of March 3-4. Russian soldiers and employees of the Russian Rosatom concern are stationed on the premises of the facility. Russian soldiers are also shelling the vicinity of the power plant, posing a serious risk of a nuclear disaster.
Reuters recalls that Macron, who last spoke to Putin in May, was repeatedly criticized for maintaining talks with the Russian president despite the crimes committed by the occupiers in Ukraine.
Main photo source: PAP / EPA / ERIC GAILLARD