The latest round of criticism has stunned Paris as it comes after Macron rewrote his message on Russia.
After upsetting Ukraine and Eastern Europeans when he said during his re-election campaign that Russia should not be “humiliated”, Macron followed suit in September with a widely acclaimed speech at the United Nations saying neutral countries should Being silent about the struggle was complicity. , France also increased military aid to Ukraine and made it more public.
seize the moment
In some ways, the mixed messages have not been surprising.
The backbone of Macron’s foreign policy since 2017 has been to launch initiatives and go against the grain. His comments in 2019 on NATO being “brain dead” did not cause a crisis in the alliance, but instead inspired constructive debate about its mission.
Macron rarely reverses his comments. Allies say he tries to persuade, to convince comrades that he is right and to demonstrate his might on the international stage.
He is generally energetic, enjoys tackling complex issues head-on, and has an ability to seize the moment.
However, a growing number of critics and allies see his emphasis on Russia as his major foreign policy mistake.
They note how he remains aloof when it comes to the prospect of a complete Russian defeat, about which speculation has run rampant since the summer following a series of Russian territorial losses to a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
In the eyes of Moscow’s former Soviet-era satellites in Eastern Europe, Russia must be humiliated so that their territorial integrity is never threatened again. But Macron believes any Russian defeat must be managed well with an eye on history.
This argument enjoys consensus in France where schools teach that the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I before inflicted crushing financial and territorial punishments on Germany fueled bitterness and paved the way for World War Two.
Eastern Europeans, however, fear that Macron’s talks with Putin will make him a useful Russian leader, with Washington as a source of Western power and Macron likely to cause disquiet in NATO and any French-German split. Sees it as a tool to exploit.
A senior Russian diplomat said that Macron stood for having the vision and desire to preserve future ties between Russia and France, rather than tarnish relations as others wanted.
From the beginning of his presidency in 2017, Macron called for a strategic “dialogue” with Russia. He invited Putin to the palatial hall of Versailles. The symbolism encouraged and flattered Putin, but there was no breakthrough of substance.
Still, Macron has sought to keep communication channels with Putin open, most recently to try to create a security zone around a front-line nuclear power plant hit by repeated shelling in southern Ukraine.
without direct consequences.
And although Macron said ahead of his trip to Washington that he would speak with Putin in “the coming days,” so far no call has taken place.
