Macron: Putin not ‘very willing to get peace' in Ukraine
The interview with NBC's Kristen Welker followed a high-stakes series of meetings at the White House, where Trump gathered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to discuss key issues in ongoing peace talks over the Russia-Ukraine war.
Asked about his level of optimism that Putin and Zelensky could make progress toward a ceasefire deal, Macron first stressed that 'I think the optimism of your President is to be taken seriously,' referring to Trump.
'So, if he considers he can get a deal done, this is a great news, and we have to do whatever we can to have a great deal,' the French president said. 'But a great deal is a deal with security guarantees and a robust peace.'
'As far as I'm concerned, when I look at the situation and the facts, I don't see President Putin really willing to get peace now,' he continued. 'But perhaps I'm too pessimistic.'
Trump embraced Zelensky on Monday, a dramatic shift from the cold welcome the Ukrainian leader received in February. The president, Ukrainian leader and other European leaders displayed a united front during the Oval Office meeting and used the high-profile talks to increase pressure on Putin to come to the negotiation table.
Trump was caught on a hot mic telling Macron that he thinks Putin 'wants to make a deal for me.'
Later Monday, he spoke to Putin about arranging a time for a bilateral meeting between the Kremlin leader and Zelensky, after which, Trump said he would personally join them a trilateral meeting.
'Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Despite his self-described pessimistic outlook, the French leader stressed that he thinks 'it's very important' that Western leaders 'launch the process of this bilateral meeting, this trilateral meeting and this multilateral meeting' and that discussions focus on building out security guarantees.
'But I think at a point of time, probably we will have to increase the pressure on Russia to be sure they want peace,' Macron told Welker, 'Because as long as President Putin and his people will consider they can win this war and get a better result by force, they will not negotiate.'
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