MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on EU member nations to reinvest heavily in defense and step up production efforts to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.
“We absolutely must step up our support (…) to help the resistance of the Ukrainian people and army and enable them to carry out the counter-offensive which alone will allow credible negotiations on the conditions chosen by Ukraine,” he said. he said during a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
“The time is not for dialogue” with a Russia which “has chosen war” and continues to show an imperialist and neocolonialist mentality, Emmanuel Macron continued before an audience of world political and military leaders.
“We are ready for a prolonged conflict, even if that is not what we want,” added the French president, speaking after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
“It is obvious that Russia will not stop at Ukraine” if the allies of Kyiv allow Moscow to win the war, said Volodimir Zelensky, according to whom all the countries of the former Soviet bloc would then be threatened.
(Written by Dagmarah Mackos, edited by Tangi Salaün)
©2023 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.