The candidate of rebellious France Jean-Luc Mélenchon denied being wrong about Russia on Friday on franceinfo, as the second day of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine unfolds. The standard-bearer of the Insoumis, who has just obtained the necessary 500 sponsorships, considers on the contrary to have been, for several years, “the only one to say that if you threaten Russia, it will cross the borders”. Was he mistaken in considering, a few weeks ago, that “NATO was the aggressor”? “Conversely, I’m the only one who has throughout, since 2014, said ‘if you try to establish NATO on the Russian border, you’ll have a major incident, better discuss before'”.
“I don’t think I was wrong”
L’Insoumis insisted: “I don’t think I was mistaken. I’ve always said the same: we don’t cross the borders, if you threaten Russia, it will cross the borders. Now that it crosses the border, they (Western countries, Editor’s note) have nothing planned and it is me who is being held accountable? I find that extraordinary”.
Asked about the sending of weapons to Ukraine requested by his competitor on the left the ecologist Yannick Jadot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon replied: “They are never late for a stupidity. (…) Think- you that she is able to resist Russia, on the ground the war is lost”.
In support of the sanctions decided
The rebellious presidential candidate expressed concern about the sanctions, which he said despite everything supported now that they had been decided: “I am pretty much convinced that it will be useless except to make life more difficult for certain Russians and for not long, but in any case to us in France, a lot: the price of oil, gas, wheat will increase, all prices will increase and we will be the main victims”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants a “ceasefire” to be obtained, the departure of the Russian army and the meeting of an OSCE conference. And he taxed Vladimir Putin “a rough autocrat”.