Russia: French President should apologize

(Dan Tri) - The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that French President Emmanuel Macron should apologize for his statements regarding the origins of the Ukraine conflict.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Photo: Sputnik).

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT on March 6 that French President Emmanuel Macron should apologize for making “misleading” statements about the origins of the Ukrainian conflict.

In particular, Ms. Zakharova criticized Mr. Macron for accusing Russia of being responsible for the failure of the Minsk Agreements.

According to RT , the agreements were negotiated in 2014 and 2015 to end the fighting between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine, with France and Germany as guarantors. Ultimately, these agreements were not implemented, and Moscow later accused Kiev and the West of using them to strengthen the Ukrainian army instead of ensuring peace.

In a televised speech on March 5, President Macron blamed Russia for violating the agreements and cited this as evidence that the West "no longer trusts Russia's word" in resolving the conflict.

"We cannot forget that Russia began its attack on Ukraine in 2014 and we negotiated a ceasefire in Minsk at that time. But Russia has not respected this ceasefire," the French president accused, declaring that Moscow posed a direct threat to France and the entire European Union (EU).

Ms Zakharova criticised Mr Macron's comments as "aggressive", pointing out that former French President Francois Hollande and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had "publicly admitted, without pressure" in 2022 that they never intended to implement the agreements.

"Macron should invite his predecessor, Mr Hollande, to the Elysee Palace to have a frank talk with him… Then he will probably hear Mr Hollande say that he has no intention of implementing the Minsk agreements while representing France," Ms Zakharova said, suggesting that after talking to Mr Hollande, Mr Macron would "have to apologize to his own people for having deceived them".

President Macron has been a strong advocate of strengthening European defences in the face of Russia, and reiterated this stance in his latest speech. However, Moscow has repeatedly denied any plans to attack the EU or NATO. President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly dismissed such speculation as “nonsense”.

President Macron said he was ready to talk to his Russian counterpart Putin when the time was right, adding that such talks should be preceded by a meeting of negotiators.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Macron had taken no practical steps towards talks with Mr Putin, despite declaring his readiness for dialogue.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/nga-tong-thong-phap-nen-xin-loi-20250307145317987.htm