Deal with Russia shouldn’t be Ukraine’s surrender: Macron
Trump meets French Prez, expresses hope the conflict is nearing an endgame.
PTI
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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington,
WASHINGTON, 25 FEB
President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia's war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame as he met on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of the invasion. But the French leader cautioned that it's crucial that any potential agreement with Moscow does not amount to surrender for Ukraine.
French president Emmanuel Macron has said a truce “could be done in the weeks to come”, shortly after meeting Donald Trump at the White House where he told the US president a deal should not mean the “surrender” of Ukraine.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts in the early hours of Tuesday as the Ukrainian air force warned of a Russian missile attack. Neighbouring Poland scrambled aircraft to ensure air safety. Russia said its air defence units intercepted and destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Their talks come at a moment of deep uncertainty about the future of transatlantic relations, with Trump transforming American foreign policy and effectively tuning out European leadership as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
US REFUSES BLAME RUSSIA
While Macron and Trump made nice at the White House, their countries were at loggerheads at the UN. In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations, the US split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three UN resolutions on Monday.
In the UN General Assembly, the US joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow's aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.
The US then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans, led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor. It was a major setback for the Trump administration in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
The US then pushed for a vote on its original draft in the more powerful UN Security Council, where resolutions are legally binding and it has veto power along with Russia, China, Britain and France. The vote in the 15-member council was 10-0 with five countries abstaining, all from Europe.
The duelling resolutions reflect the strain in the transatlantic alliance and the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine after Trump suddenly opened negotiations with Russia in a bid to quickly resolve the conflict.
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