Macron to tell Trump not to be ‘weak’ with Putin in Washington visit
The Hindu
French President Macron travels to Washington to convince Trump to stand firm against Putin for European interests.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday (February 20, 2025) he will travel to Washington to try to convince President Donald Trump that his interests were in line with European allies and that showing any weakness to Russia's Vladimir Putin would make it harder to deal with China and Iran.
"Trump, I know him. I respect him and I believe he respects me," Mr. Macron said during a one-hour question and answer session on social media. "I will tell him: deep down you cannot be weak in the face of President (Vladimir Putin). It's not you, it's not what you're made of and it's not in your interests."
Mr. Macron said the uncertainty in how Mr. Trump was handling Russia's three-year-old invasion of Ukraine was worrying for U.S. allies because he could negotiate something that was insufficient, but it was also creating uncertainty for Mr. Putin and this was something that needed to be used to help negotiations.
"The word is uncertainty. Donald Trump creates uncertainty among others because he wants to make deals, so Donald Trump creating uncertainty for Vladimir Putin is a good thing," Mr. Macron said, adding that the Russian president did not know what Trump would do or how he could act.
Mr. Macron is due to go to Washington on Monday to hold talks with Mr. Trump as Europeans seek to ensure they play a key role in negotiations to end the conflict and outline how they plan to provide security guarantees for Ukraine should there be a ceasefire.
The French leader also said showing weakness to Putin that would lead to the capitulation of Ukraine with a bad deal would also make Trump less credible to tackle China and in curbing Iran's nuclear programme.
"How can you be credible with China if you're weak with Putin?" Mr. Macron said, holding his fist firmly, and adding that letting Ukraine fall to Russia would send a strategic signal to Beijing on Taiwan.
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