French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday warned against verbal “escalation” with Moscow, after U.S President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “butcher” over his invasion of Ukraine.
Macron distanced himself from the comments by U.S. President Joe Biden, who called Vladimir Putin a “butcher” who “cannot remain in power.” Macron told broadcaster France 3 that he saw his task as “achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of Russian troops by diplomatic means, The Trumpet gathered.
If we want to do that, we can’t escalate either in words or actions.” Paris has however kept diplomatic channels to Moscow open throughout Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders and invasion of its neighbour.
The attitude has been criticised by some other leaders and commentators but defended by Macron as vital to limiting damage from the war.
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He however accused Putin on Sunday of wanting to return to “a Europe of empires, of domination, without respect for the integrity of borders and nations’ right to decide for themselves”.
Biden’s Saturday remarks were far more muscular, with the U.S chief executive using a visit to Poland to call Putin “a butcher” who “cannot remain in power”.
The White House later scrambled to deny he was seeking “regime change” in Moscow, while the Kremlin said Biden’s words could harm bilateral relations.
Macron said he would speak to Putin in the next two days to organise the evacuation of civilians from the heavily bombarded port city of Mariupol.
“There is a lot of cynicism from the Russian side on this question,” Macron said. “We’re looking with the Ukrainian authorities in the city of Mariupol at how to organize the evacuation of everyone who wants to flee.”
He added that “we have to do it quickly, in the very next days” given the intensity of combat and bombardments in the city.
