French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the idea of trusting Russia.
In a televised address to the French people, he reminded them that Russia had broken all ceasefires since 2014 when it first invaded Ukraine.
“We have the experience of the past, we cannot forget that Russia started to invade Ukraine in 2014 and
that we then negotiated a ceasefire in Minsk and the same Russia did not respect this ceasefire. And we
were not able to maintain the balances in the absence of solid guarantees. Today, we can no longer take Russia at its word,” he said.
He added that Ukraine has the right to peace and security for itself, “and it is in our interest and in the interest of the security of the European continent.”
He added that countries are working on the deployment of European troops to Ukraine, though not to the frontlines. This will be discussed next week in Paris when chiefs of staff from the counties willing to participate meet.
