Emmanuel Macron Backs Trump’s ‘Optimism’ After WH Summit — but Doubts Putin Wants ‘Peace Now’
French President Emmanuel Macron said he backed President Donald Trump’s “optimism” in his bed to end the war in Ukraine but warned that he did not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin was “very willing” to commit to peace “now.”
Macron joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Monday alongside a heavyweight European delegation that included, among others, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Speaking to NBC host Kristen Welker for a sit-down with Meet the Press just hours after the White House summit, Macron admitted he may be “pessimistic” but outlined his view of how things stand.
“When I look at the situation and the facts, I don’t see President Putin very willing to get peace now,” the French president said. “But perhaps I’m too pessimistic.”
“The optimism of your president is to be taken seriously. So if he considers he can get a deal done, this is great news, and we have to do whatever we can to have a great deal,” he added of Trump.
He continued to insist that pressure on Moscow must be sustained. If upcoming talks between Putin, Zelensky and Trump collapse, he argued, the West should “increase the sanctions, secondary and primary sanctions.”
After Trump’s Alaska summit, the president abandoned ceasefire demands to push for a peace negotiation. Since that meeting, several Ukrainians have been reported killed by Russian drone strikes.
“There is an aggressor, which is Russia,” Macron told Welker. “There is a country, which decided to kill people, stole children and who refused a ceasefire and peace, so we cannot just create an equivalent situation between Ukraine and Russia.”
The French leader insisted that a finalized peace agreement would need to include binding security guarantees for Ukraine, warning that “Russia will never respect its words” and remained dismissive about the idea of a “land swap” – following Putin’s demand to keep land occupied by Russia and more.
“I don’t see any swap in the proposal of the Russians, except a swap in comparison with what they wanted at the beginning,” he said. “When we speak about territory, it’s for the Ukrainian president and for the Ukrainian people to discuss about it.”
He stressed the conflict is not only about Ukraine’s survival but Europe’s wider security: “The way we will behave in Ukraine will be a test for our collective credibility in the rest of the world.”
Watch above via NBC.
