Macron Denies France Waging War Against Russia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - French President Emmanuel Macron assured his Chinese counterpart on Monday that his country was not at war with Russia or its people after Xi Jinping urged Paris to avert a new cold war.

"We are at war against neither Russia nor the Russian people," Macron said during a televised press conference in Paris.

"Neither do we have an approach that aims to change the regime in Moscow," the French president added.

Macron reaffirmed France's commitment to supporting Ukraine as long as needed and achieving a "just and lasting" peace that would respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.

France is not at war with Russia or the Russian people, Macron said, in response to which Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked:

“What kind of state is the French president in, then, making such contradictory statements and taking such aggressive steps?” pic.twitter.com/OGkoGKMOFR

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 6, 2024

Macron also assured Xi that Paris respected historic ties between Moscow and Beijing and thanked the Chinese leader for the opportunity to coordinate their policies ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in May.

Earlier today, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed the ongoing Ukraine conflict and the need to jointly work against military escalation within a trilateral meeting.

French President Emmanuel Macron doubled down on his previous bellicose statements earlier this week, again pitching the possibility of NATO sending troops from Europe to Ukraine in an interview with The Economist.

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Macron’s statement as “very dangerous.” Moscow is closely monitoring statements from Paris about such a possibility, the Peskov said, adding that France continues to constantly talk about the possibility of its direct involvement on the ground in the conflict around Ukraine.