War in Ukraine: Peace cannot be “surrender”, according to French President Emmanuel Macron

Peace in Ukraine cannot mean the country’s “surrender,” French President Emmanuel Macron told a peace conference in Switzerland on Saturday.

• Read more: In pictures | Hundreds of thousands of French people protested against the far-right

• Read more: Summit in Switzerland: Zelensky hopes for “peace as soon as possible”.

• Read more: Election in France: Macron headed for defeat

“We are all committed to building sustainable peace. As many of you have mentioned, such a peace cannot be a Ukrainian capitulation,” he said in English. “There is an aggressor and a victim.”

“This war is a global problem,” he said in unison with many leaders.

The two-day summit brings together more than 50 heads of state and government with the aim of forging a path to peace in Ukraine.

Addressing the leaders, the French president emphasized: “No one in this room is at war with Russia, but everyone wants a sustainable peace, that is, a peace that respects international rules and restores Ukraine to its sovereignty.

He stressed that one of the summit’s priorities was to reject any complacency regarding attacks on targets and infrastructure in Ukraine and to “secure the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant”, which he called “war crimes”.

“I think it’s very important to increase the pressure in this environment to achieve a fight on the Russian side,” he said.

The French president also suggested that “at the same time, we should all create a follow-up together to widen the circle of countries that join our efforts.”

This would make it possible to “avoid a major split in the world and avoid being triggered by other initiatives”, while stressing that it is not a question of “competing” between different projects. On Achieving Peace in Ukraine.

It’s clearly “about building a core set of demands from the global community that we can put on the table against Russia,” he continued.

On Sunday, three subjects will be discussed in working groups during the summit: nuclear security, navigation and food security, and humanitarian aspects, particularly the fate of Ukrainian children deported to Russia.