Macron's speech was ‘clumsy' imitation of Churchill
French President Emmanuel Macron's recent address in which he accused Russia of posing a threat to Europe was a poor imitation of Winston Churchill's iconic 1946 'Iron Curtain' speech, senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov has said.
On Wednesday, Macron called for a substantial increase in EU defense spending and other initiatives to counter what he described as a persistent threat from Russia.
Ulyanov, Moscow's representative at international organizations based in Vienna, likened Macron's rhetoric to a 'clumsy replica' of Churchill's seminal speech delivered in Fulton, Missouri, widely regarded as a turning point in the Cold War.
'The European support group for Ukraine is making a somewhat sad impression right now, isn't it?' Ulyanov wrote in a post on X on Friday.
The EU this week announced plans to spend some $840 billion on rearmament of member states, which Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has touted as a way to beat Russia in an arms race. Additionally, Brussels has vowed to sustain military support for Ukraine, even as US President Donald Trump's administration seeks a swift resolution to Kiev's conflict with Russia.
Moscow interprets Macron's address as a commitment to prolonged animosity towards Russia, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who described the remarks as 'extremely confrontational' and misrepresenting the causes of the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West. Moscow has called the expansion of NATO in Europe since the 1990s a serious national security risk.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin did not directly respond to Macron's speech, he alluded to Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia on Thursday, remarking that 'some people still can't get over it.'
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