Macron avers France & Germany will never negotiate with Russia behind Ukraine's back

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France and Germany will not demand any concessions from Ukraine for talks with the Russian Federation and it will never be negotiators behind Kyiv's back. As Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, the French leader said that although European countries have maintained an open channel of communication with the Russian Federation, the terms and format of the talks are determined by Kyiv. Notably, Macron’s comments came while speaking in the Ukrainian capital alongside Italian PM Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday.   

Macron said, “At the same time, we did not go to war with the Russian people, that is, collectively we are not waging such a war. That is why we, absolutely transparently, each time informing President Zelenskyy, continued negotiations with the Russian president [...] in particular, in the current issues that arise - now it is a question of food security. And it is in this context that we maintain a channel of dialogue [with Russia].”

Macron, who also visited Irpin, labelled his visit as a symbol of European Unity. He said that neither Germany nor France “will ever be negotiators behind Ukraine's back”. And they will never demand any concessions from Ukraine - this has never been and never will be the case. It is pertinent to note that Zelenskyy has many times slammed the EU for softening its stance against the Kremlin.

Reaffirming Europe’s stern support to Ukriane, the French leader said that “ We (European leader)  are here only to act as a demanding mediator, to bring more clarity and set certain requirements, but in no case to receive any concessions. "Conditions will be put forward only by the Ukrainian president and only on the terms that will be accepted by the Ukrainian people," he added.

New export route

In a separate statement, Macron had said that the European Union (EU) is working on an alternate export route for food grains stuck at Ukrainian ports. Speaking to French media outlet TF1, he detailed that the new channel is being carved out through Romania, which he said was just a  “few tens of kilometres” from Odesa. Soon after the war started, invading troops imposed a blockade on Ukrainian ports-particularly Odesa and Mariupol- leading to tonnes of grains and other agrarian products getting stuck there.

(Image: Ukraine Presidency)