Macron: US and Russia must not have a monopoly on decisions concerning Europe

(Patria) - The European Union must make bold decisions to defend Ukraine and preempt any US decision to withhold or reduce its military support, believes French President Emmanuel Macron, reports The Guardian.

In a speech in Sweden, a country that is expected to join NATO in the foreseeable future, Macron said that Europe's future security architecture, including arms control agreements covering European territory, can no longer be simply and solely resolved by the US and Russia.

According to him, Europe itself must have the right to determine its future.

Macron's remarks are a warning to Europe to strengthen its defense capabilities and prepare for the possibility that US President Joe Biden may fail to push his military aid package for Ukraine through Congress, or that he may be defeated in the presidential election later in the year by Donald Trump.

Macron says that if Europe is key in stopping a Russian victory, the US, through NATO, must no longer have a monopoly in determining future relations with Moscow.

- Europe has been lucky to have America as a partner, but we must be smart. Ukraine is part of the European continent, and whatever America decides, we must make the right and bold decisions to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people - Macron adds.

Insisting that Europe must do whatever it takes in the coming years and at any cost, he stated that a Russian victory must be prevented.

Because, he adds, Europe would then be left without a functional security architecture with consequences for NATO's eastern flank, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Macron emphasizes that the real price of a Russian victory is "short-term and long-term, too high for all of us".

He also notes that this will require Europe to increase its own defense production efforts so that Ukraine can be in a position to negotiate a sustainable peace.

He also called for greater European cooperation and autonomy in energy.

- For years, we thought that trade and energy exchange with Russia was the best way to prevent war - said Macron, assessing that it was a mistake that led Europe into numerous problems.

The French President also believes that in the future, European energy policy should aim for greater diversity of suppliers.

The invasion of Russia, Macron continues, happened partly because Europe was geopolitically too weak, and strategic negotiations were conducted exclusively by the US and Russia, leaving the EU excluded.

Macron also believes that arms control and security treaties affecting "our territory were decided by major powers, not by Europeans".

- Our involvement in Ukraine is not only to prevent Russia's victory, but to decide our own future because Ukraine is part of our continent.

There is no future for us and our children if we are not in a position to build a new security and arms control architecture in our neighborhood.

We must be the ones to decide, not leave it to others, even if they are our allies, because they simply live on the other side of the ocean - concludes Macron.