Macron warns Europe ‘would be wrong to be weak’ as Russia steps up hybrid warfare

ISTANBUL

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Tuesday that Europe “would be wrong to be weak” in the face of an increasingly aggressive Russia, insisting that Moscow is waging a broad “strategic confrontation” against EU and NATO countries.

Speaking in an RTL/M6 documentary interview ahead of a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing," an alliance formed in March 2025 to support Ukraine, Macron said Russia is conducting hybrid operations across Europe, including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and attempts to inflame social tensions in France.

“Russia is waging hybrid warfare. It provokes on nuclear issues, conducts cyberattacks, targets our hospitals and information systems, and engages in information warfare to undermine morale,” Macron said.

He also cited recent “antisemitic” and “anti-Muslim” incidents in France as part of a broader destabilization strategy.

Macron insisted that Europe must remain firm.

“If we are weak in Ukraine, if we say it is no longer our problem because it is far away, that day you send a signal of weakness. And Russia will continue to advance wherever we are weak,” he said.

Macron said Moscow’s posture has become “much more aggressive,” warning that Russia now devotes “more than a third of its budget” to defense and is expanding its missile, submarine, and tank production.

“We would be wrong to be weak in the face of this threat,” he added.

“If we French want to protect ourselves, we must show that we are not weak in the face of the power that threatens us the most.”

Macron also signaled that a new national service program will be announced in the coming days but dismissed speculation that it could involve deploying French youth to Ukraine.

“We must dispel any misleading notion that we are going to send our young people to Ukraine,” he stressed.

He further accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of deliberately prolonging the war.

“If he wanted to (end the war), he would,” Macron said.

“But today, he continues to kill civilians, including in Kyiv, and continues to methodically destroy all energy and electricity infrastructure, plunging the population into cold and darkness.”

Commenting on the US' 28-point peace framework discussed in Geneva, Macron said the proposal contains “a step in the right direction” but warned that any settlement must protect Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“The plan proposed by the United States is a step in the right direction: peace. However, some elements deserved to be discussed and improved,” he said.

“No one can tell the Ukrainians what territorial concessions they are prepared to make.”

“We want peace, but we do not want a peace that is a capitulation that puts Ukraine in an impossible situation and gives Russia the opportunity to continue pushing further and endangering our collective security,” Macron stressed.