The Head of State spoke after the Russian bombardment of an establishment housing a maternity hospital and a pediatric hospital in Mariupol, in the south-east of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday condemned “in the strongest terms” the Russian bombardment of a facility housing a maternity and pediatric hospital in Mariupol, southeastern Ukraine, which is “an outrageous act of war and amoral”.
Before the start of an EU summit in Versailles, near Paris, Mr Macron said he was “worried” and “pessimistic” about the evolution of the conflict in Ukraine, not seeing diplomatic solutions “in the coming hours and days”. “We were all shocked by these images of a ‘hit’ maternity ward right in the middle of town,” he said. “France condemns in the strongest terms what was an unworthy and amoral act of war”, because “it is not an act of war intended to neutralize armed bases or military capacities (…) but an act of war whose manifest objective is to kill civilians”, according to him. He pointed out that this type of drama had happened “several times since the beginning of this war”.
A “staging” for the Russians
“France has always fought against impunity and, within the framework of the United Nations as a whole and with the competent courts, all the procedures must be carried out so that clarity is made on these acts”, concluded Emmanuel Macron. The Russian army on Thursday described as “staged” by Ukrainian “nationalists” the strike the day before that targeted a maternity hospital and a pediatric hospital in the surrounded city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
Concerning Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU, Emmanuel Macron declared that it was necessary “to send a strong signal to Ukraine and to the Ukrainians” but that it was necessary to be vigilant about the possibility of “opening a procedure membership with a country at war”. He also stressed that we had to be “very attentive to Moldova” which “is very fragile”.
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