French President Emmanuel Macron revealed Monday that he warned President Trump to “be careful” as he handles negotiations to end Russia’s war on Ukraine – while noting it’s “feasible” a truce could be reached within weeks.
“We want peace and I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one. But my message was to say, ‘Be careful,’ because we need something substantial for Ukraine … for the security of Europe and France,” Macron told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier shortly after a meeting with Trump at the White House.
The French president said he encouraged his US counterpart during their “very strategic and decisive” meeting to “work together” with France and other European nations on how to “preserve security guarantees.”
Macron also stressed to Trump that all involved nations must “be sure that this peace will be respected by Russia” — one of his biggest fears as negotiations led by the Trump administration ramp up to end the brutal, three-year-long war.
“In 2014, we had a cease-fire with Russia and I can tell you by experience – because I was in charge with Germany to follow up the cease-fire – It was violated every time by Russia. And we didn’t react,” Macron said of the truce signed after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
Macron, 47, argued that it was a “lack of credibility on collective deterrence” after the 2014 peace deal that led to Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“I think it’s feasible to have a truce, at least, and start negotiating for a sustainable peace,” the French president continued. “But we need something substantial for Ukraine, for the Europeans and their security for the US and its credibility.”
Macron called on the US to be the “backstop” in the event that European troops are sent into Ukraine to act as peacekeepers and are attacked by Russian forces, which he described as a concern of “all” the European leaders he’s spoken to.
Despite his concerns, Macron suggested a truce could be agreed to by all parties “in the weeks to come.”
“For me, the sequence should be the following: negotiation between US and Russia and US and Ukraine … truce on air and sea infrastructures that if it is not respected, it would be best evidence of the fact that Russia is not serious,” Macron said. “During this period of time, we negotiate on security guarantees, lands and territories … and reconstruction … At the end of this period you will have a peace treaty and a peace agreement.”
Macron signaled that he is in support of a deal that would give the US rights to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukraine’s critical and rare earth minerals because it would be “one of the best ways to have US commitments on Ukrainian sovereignty.”
“For me, this is what we have to negotiate and finalize,” Macron said. “If we manage to do so with, clearly, the agreement of Ukraine, and with the agreement of the Europeans, as this is European security, and the agreement of the US for this solidarity as this backstop, I think we have a deal.”
