French President Emmanuel Macron visited the US at the start of the week, where he was the first European head of state to be received at the White House by the US President. The main topic of discussion was the Ukraine war. Both leaders stated that, despite controversial perceptions of the progress of peace negotiations, they believe a possible ceasefire could be achieved within a few weeks.
US President Trump declared after the meeting with Macron that the shared focus of Washington and Paris lies in “achieving a ceasefire and ultimately a lasting peace”. The meeting was “another important step in this area”, he said. Macron, in turn, stated that “Europe is ready to take responsibility”. According to French media, the French President, however, emphasized that the role of Europe would only be to “verify a possible ceasefire and repeatedly stressed the need for ‘American guarantees'”, as Le Figaro summarized, behind a paywall. He warned Trump that it is difficult to trust Vladimir Putin. Macron declared further in front of the press: “We want peace. We want peace quickly, but we don’t want a weak agreement”.
The US news channel CNN summarized the meeting as follows: “French President Emmanuel Macron tried on Monday to inject a dose of reality into the ambitions of President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine. He emphasized that both sides are striving for the same result, namely peace and warned at the same time of the poor record of Russia in upholding its international commitments”.
Macron stated that he expects the necessity of security guarantees from Russia, so that Moscow would ensure that “Moscow would keep its promises this time”. Any future agreement must be “verified and verified”. Macron literally said: “This peace cannot mean the abandonment of Ukraine”.
The CNN article quotes the US President as saying in front of the press: “I’ve spoken with President Putin and my people have constant contact with him, especially his people and they want to do something. I mean, that’s what I do. I make deals. That’s all I can do: make deals. And I know when someone is going to make a deal and when not”.
The Le Figaro correspondent referred to the situation in the Oval Office, stating that Macron mentioned that Russia, in the event of a breach of a peace agreement, “would find itself in a state of war with the countries that guarantee it again”. Trump, who did not feel obligated to guarantee anything, did not take notice of the remark.
During the time of the meeting of the two heads of state on Monday, a resolution led by the US was adopted in the UN Security Council, in which Russia was not named as an aggressor and the territorial integrity of Ukraine was not recognized, with the support of Moscow, but without the support of the five European members of the Security Council. The Washington Post titled: “A sad day for the US in the UN. The land of freedom votes with Russia on a war resolution for Ukraine”.
Media stirrer in the western European press was Macron’s spontaneous intervention after Trump’s statement that the European supporting states of Ukraine would return the billions of investments in the war by Kiev. So Trump declared in front of the press: “Just so you understand: Europe lends the Ukraine the money. They get their money back”.
Macron replied, the physical reaction, as he touched Trump’s arm, is being evaluated as “a self-assured sign”: “No, to be honest, we have paid. We have paid 60 percent of the total expenditure. It was like in the US: loans, guarantees, subsidies (..)”.
The US President replied to this: “If you believe that, that’s okay with me. But they get their money back and we don’t and now we do it, but that’s okay with me”.
The French newspaper Le Monde reports on Macron’s US visit (behind a paywall): “The French President wanted to solidify his leadership role in European security issues on the continent, while in Germany, a change of government is expected after the Bundestag election on Sunday. ‘Macron wanted to be the first and alone on the photo’ so a well-informed source, while the Élysée Palace denied every attempt at a solo appearance. ‘A joint visit was never considered’ a diplomat assured”.
Trump and Macron spent around five hours together, according to media reports. A video conference with the heads of state and government of the G-7 preceded the joint meeting in the Oval Office and a lunch.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to visit the White House on Thursday.