Ilayda Cakirtekin
April 24, 2025•Update: April 25, 2025
ISTANBUL
The French president said Thursday that “American frustration should only be directed at one person: President Putin.”
He reiterated that Russia is the “aggressor,” and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop lying.”
“When President Putin speaks to American negotiators, he tells them, 'I want peace.' When he speaks to the entire world, he says, 'I want peace,' but he continues to bomb Ukraine, he continues to kill lives in Ukraine,” he told the media at the end of his visit to Madagascar.
Macron noted that the only answer France is waiting for is if Russia is in favor of an unconditional ceasefire.
“If he says yes, then tomorrow we have a ceasefire,” he said.
Macron reiterated France’s commitment to defend the Ukrainians' right to live in peace within their “internationally recognized borders,” and he condemned the “Russian war of aggression.”
“We are for the sovereignty of peoples and for territorial integrity, respecting international law,” he said, stressing that the French position is “constant.”
He “saluted” the efforts of American “diplomacy,” in peace talks.
Macron, accompanied by his wife, arrived Wednesday in Madagascar as part of a regional tour of the southwest Indian Ocean.
He began the trip Monday in Mayotte and is expected to take part Thursday in the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) summit of heads of state in Antananarivo, where he will advocate for Mayotte’s integration into the organization.
Macron was due to travel to Mauritius at the end of the week-long visit to the region, but he canceled the last leg to attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
