French President Emmanuel Macron praised U.S. President Donald Trump for taking steps to end Russia’s war against Ukraine but warned the commander-in-chief to “be careful” in the negotiation process.
“We want peace. And I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one. But my message was to say be careful because we need something substantial for Ukraine,” he said in an interview from the Blair House Monday on “Special Report.”
“I think the arrival of President Trump is a game-changer. And I think he has the deterrence capacity of the U.S. to reengage with Russia.”
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office at the White House on February 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images))
Macron, who met with Trump at the White House on the third anniversary of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said the U.S. and France need to work together to determine lasting future security guarantees.
He emphasized the need for more than just a ceasefire in the war due to previous violations by Russia in 2014 and 2015 with regard to the Minsk Agreements.
World leaders from Sweden, Estonia, Canada, Finland and Denmark met with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Monday to show their support for the war-torn country.
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Volodomyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, center, with world leaders during a news conference following a ‘Support Ukraine’ summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. Ukraine marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion. (Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We all strive for peace and want to make it as reliable and lasting as possible. Today, we discussed the need for security guarantees for Ukraine and real ways to ensure an end to this Russian aggression and prevent any new one. Peace is needed,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X after meeting with key allies.
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A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial for the fallen Ukrainian and foreign fighters on the Independence Square in Kyiv, on February 24, 2025, during the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ((Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images))
Macron told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier he sees the possibility of a truce between Russia and Ukraine in the coming weeks.
“[A] truce on air, sea [and] infrastructures,” the French president explained. “If it is not respected, it will be the best evidence of the fact that Russia is not serious.”
During the truce, Macron suggested there would be negotiations on security guarantees, land, occupied territories and reconstruction.
The Trump administration is working to finalize a rare earth mineral deal with Ukraine that it says will recoup the tens of billions of dollars in aid Washington has sent to Kyiv.
A man walks past Saint Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in winter in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 17, 2025. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that he considers the proposed deal to be a “win-win” economic partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine that signifies its interest in the country long-term.
Macron said discussions are still ongoing about European countries’ roles in maintaining peace in Ukraine once the war is over.
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“We worked very hard together with the UK prime minister to have a French-UK proposal to say we are ready to send troops, not to go to the front line, not to go in confrontation, but to be in some locations, being defined by the treaty, as a presence to maintain this peace and our collective credibility with the US backup and the US backstop.”
