LUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed to have invited Emmanuel Macron to go to Ukraine to see with his own eyes that Russian forces are committing “genocide”, a term that his French counterpart has so far refused to use. “Regarding Emmanuel, I spoke to him,” President Zelensky said in an interview with the American channel CNN conducted on Friday and broadcast on Sunday. “I think he wants to ensure that Russia engages in a dialogue”, he added, to explain the refusal of the French leader to denounce a “genocide” in Ukraine, unlike the president of the United States, Joe Biden.
The Ukrainian president initially deemed this refusal “very hurtful” on Wednesday. “I told him that I wanted him to understand that this is not a war, that it is nothing but genocide. I invited him to come when he has the opportunity,” Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN. “He will come, and he will see, and I am sure he will understand. »
Zelensky also calls on Biden to visit Ukraine
Emmanuel Macron, in the middle of the campaign for his re-election in the presidential election next Sunday in France, explained Thursday that the word “genocide” should in his opinion be qualified “by lawyers, not by politicians” and that “enter into the ‘verbal escalation’ was not ‘helping Ukraine’.
READ ALSOWar in Ukraine: “The term genocide is excessive”
In his interview broadcast on Sunday, the Ukrainian president also said he wanted Joe Biden to come to Ukraine, who surprised him by saying this week that Russian forces were committing “genocide”. “I think he will come (…) but the decision is up to him, of course, it depends on the security situation,” he said. “But I think he is the leader of the United States and for that he should come and see. The US government is considering sending an envoy to kyiv, but the White House has so far ruled out a high-risk trip by the president himself.
READ ALSOWar in Ukraine: the diplomatic snub to Germany