Macron’s rivals back his Russia stance in row with Ukraine

Bloomberg

French President Emmanuel Macron’s fiercest domestic rivals are standing by him in a fresh row with the government in Kyiv over his calls not to shame Russia.
Tensions between France and Ukraine worsened over the weekend after Macron told a national newspaper that allies shouldn’t “humiliate” Moscow to improve the chance of reaching a peaceful solution to its invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba led the angry reaction, saying such talk “can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it.”
Macron, 44, has tried to position himself as a bridge between Russia and the West, and describes his country’s role as “a mediating power.” He says he has spoken many times with Vladimir Putin — at the
request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — since February 24 when Moscow sent tanks into Ukraine.
So far, the French leader’s outreach to Putin has failed to secure any concessions, and Russia’s battlefield tactics have become increasingly brutal. In eastern Europe, where memories of Soviet
totalitarianism and military occupation still sting, leaders have ridiculed calls to engage with the Kremlin as naive
appeasement.
Franco-Russian ties go back a long way and at home, left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are both backing Macron — even as they campaign against him a week before legislative elections.
“Ukrainians should not talk to us like that because France sends weapons, is present and supports the Ukrainian people,” Melenchon told France Inter radio. “Someday, 10 or 15 years from now, Russia will come back to the table.”
Le Pen, meanwhile, said Macron was “right to try and find means to stop the war thanks to discussions.”
She added that she didn’t understand why Zelenskiy was critical of Macron given that the Ukrainian president has said “the only outcome could be a diplomatic one.”