Featured Image Credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Politics
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Politics
French President Emmanuel Macron is one of several European leaders who have issued a stark warning that Donald Trump could ‘betray Ukraine’ as part of tenuous peace negotiations to end the war with Russia.
According to a leaked call transcript published on Thursday in German newspaper Der Spiegel, Macron allegedly warned Kyiv’s allies that Washington could force Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia without any security guarantees in return.
Details of the call - which involved Macron along with German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte - were leaked to the press amid ongoing peace negotiations between the warring nations.
“There is a possibility that the US will betray Ukraine on the issue of territory without clarity on security guarantees,” Macron said, before adding that there was a 'great danger'.
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German chancellor Friedrich Merz also appeared to agree and said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to be 'extremely careful' in the coming days.
In comments believed to be referring to Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, he even went on to caution: "They are playing games, both with you and with us.”
Macron’s comments show an increasing mistrust of the US under Trump’s leadership, particularly after his proposed peace plan last month included caveats that would see Ukraine surrender territory to Russia, with Russia asked to give very little in return.
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Russia first invaded Ukraine back in February 2022, with both countries engaging in intense fighting ever since, particularly over contested territory in East Ukraine such as the Donbas region.
Multiple attempts have been made to try and broker peace, but so far no deal has been established, even despite Trump’s insistence that he would be the one to bring an end to the bloody conflict that has claimed over 400,000 casualties to date.
European leaders and US allies hit out at the original proposed plan, citing concerns that it favored Russia and a revised plan was later drawn up that Ukraine itself did agree to.
However, Russia has yet to agree to the terms, prompting Kyiv to suggest that Vladimir Putin has no intention of negotiating and instead expects his demands to be met in their entirety.
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A meaningful end to the war also looks increasingly unlikely, following Putin’s comments on Thursday which indicated he has no intention of backing down from his plans to claim the Donbas region.
"Either we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops leave these territories," Putin told Russian state media.
Kyiv has refused to surrender any Ukrainian territory to Russia that it hasn’t claimed on the battlefield, with Zelenskyy also arguing that Russia should not be rewarded for having waged war in the first place.
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Putin met with Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday but failed to come to an agreement on the terms of a peace deal.
Describing the meeting as ‘very useful’, Putin said there were still some sticking points that had failed to yield a breakthrough.
He said: "I think it is too early to say, but this meeting was necessary."
"We had to go over every point, which is why it took so on... So it was a necessary conversation, a very concrete one... Somewhere we said, yes, we can discuss this, but we can't agree on that. That's precisely the tone of the conversation."