(Updated with the reaction of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Macron’s call not to “humiliate” Russia)
June 4 (Reuters) – Kyiv on Saturday slammed President Emmanuel Macron’s call not to humiliate Russia and ruled out resuming peace talks until Russian forces are pushed back as far as possible.
In an interview with the regional daily press, Emmanuel Macron, who has maintained dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, spoke about France’s mediation in the conflict and warned against humiliating Russia in order to preserve diplomatic channels.
“Calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France or any other country. Because it is Russia that is humiliating itself,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kouleba tweeted.
“We would all do better to focus on how to put Russia back in its place. This will bring peace and save lives,” added the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.
Asked about this mediation offer, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency replied: “As long as we have not received all the weapons, until we have reinforced our positions, until we have repelled (the Russian forces, editor’s note) as far as possible from the borders of Ukraine, there will be no need to negotiate.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron called not to humiliate Russia “so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels”.
For Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia, Ukraine wants to strengthen its military positions on the ground thanks to new Western arms deliveries before resuming peace negotiations with Russia.
“Our armed forces are ready to use (the new weapons, editor’s note) (…) and then I think that we will be able to start a new round of negotiations from reinforced positions,” David Arakhamia told Ukrainian television.
Kyiv said Saturday that the Ukrainian army had managed to repel the advance of Russian troops Sievierodonetsk as fighting rages around the industrial city where Russian soldiers are concentrating their offensive to take control of Donbass. (Report Max Hunder, French version Matthieu Protard)