PARIS. Western allies impressed by his attitude French President Macronwho until recently insisted on dialogue with him Russian President Putin, speaking of Moscow’s “security guarantees”. While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heavily criticized for his government’s delay in sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Paris’s contribution to the war effort remains markedly smaller than that of Germany. According to Politico magazine, even taking into account Macron’s recent commitment to jointly send Caesar missiles and MAMBA anti-aircraft systems with Italy, France’s participation will remain much smaller than that of other countries.

When President of Ukraine Zelensky Having started his European tour last week, Paris did not officially invite him, and his meeting with Macron in Paris almost did not take place. That evening, the President of France planned to attend a theater performance with his wife. However, after Zelensky’s speech at London’s imposing Westminster Hall, Macron’s advisers rushed to invite the Ukrainian president to the Elysee Palace.

In an interview, former French President Francois Hollande defended Macron’s policies. “It makes sense to talk to Putin in order to deprive him of any argument or reason. He decided to try the path of diplomacy. I don’t think we can blame him for that,” the former president said.

François Aisbourg, a member of the IISS institute, believes that Macron’s ambivalence about the war in Ukraine is a missed opportunity for France and the president’s ambitions. In 2017, in an important speech at the Sorbonne, Macron presented himself as the guarantor of European unity and the continuation of the tradition of President Mitterrand and Chancellor Kohl. “2022 was a year of missed opportunities. “Macron has spent 15 days telling everyone that Russia needs guarantees, as if Russia is some kind of underage, unable to ask for what it wants,” Icebur says.

As the war in Ukraine draws to a close, Macron has reversed course, opting for a rhetoric of full support for Kyiv. In his New Year’s address, the president promised Ukraine “support until victory”, later leaving open the possibility of training Ukrainian pilots by French operators. However, most French people are still skeptical about the prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the EU.