Macron considers Ukrainians and russians brothers, does not rush to call russia's actions against Ukraine genocide
Photo by Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to call russia's actions in Ukraine genocide, as US President Joe Biden has done
He said this in an interview with France 2, Rubryka reports with reference to CNN.
When asked whether he, like Biden, would use the term "genocide" to describe the killing of Ukrainians by the russian military, Macron said: "I will be careful with such terms today, because these two peoples [russians and Ukrainians] are brothers."
"I want to continue to try as hard as I can to stop this war and restore peace. I am not sure that the escalation of rhetoric serves this cause," he said.
"What we can say with confidence is that the situation is unacceptable and that it is a war crime. We are experiencing war crimes that are unprecedented in our land, our European land," Macron said.
He also noted the cooperation of France with Ukraine in the investigation of war crimes.
"russia has unilaterally started an extremely brutal war, it has been established that the russian army has committed war crimes, and now we must find those responsible," Macron said.
As reported by Rubryka, the day before, US President Joe Biden for the first time called russia's actions genocide.
"I called it genocide because it is becoming increasingly clear that putin is simply trying to destroy the idea of being Ukrainian, and there is growing evidence," he later explained.
US leaders have generally avoided the use of the word "genocide" in the past, fearing the need to intervene in accordance with the International Convention on Genocide.
