French President Emmanuel Macron hardened his stance on Moscow on Friday, calling on allies to step up military support for Ukraine to help it repel a Russian invasion, as Macron said now was not the time to engage with Ukraine. Russia.
Macron has come under fire from some NATO allies for controversial political statements regarding the Ukraine-Russia war, with some viewing Paris as a “weak link” in the Western alliance.
On Friday, he tried to correct the course previously followed.
“Now is not the time for dialogue with Russia,” he said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, adding that Moscow’s invasion of the neighboring country, which has been going on for nearly one year, “must fail”.
Macron signaled that he intends to increase his support for Ukraine: “We absolutely must intensify our support and our efforts to resist the Ukrainian people and their army and help them launch a counter-offensive which can only allow negotiations credibility determined by Ukraine, its authorities and its people.”
“We are ready today to step up (our efforts) and we are ready for a protracted conflict… This is the only way to bring Russia back to the negotiating table and build a lasting peace,” he said. added the French leader.
If Europe is to be ready for a long test, Macron said the bloc must spend more on rearmament and shift supply chains to the continent rather than non-European partners.
He urged the EU to develop a joint defense investment program by the summer: “If Europe wants to defend Europe, it must arm itself, take advantage of NATO’s interoperability and increase its production capacity on European soil.
