27.02.2025, Moscow.
The French government is deeply concerned about the recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, prompting France to adopt a cautious stance while trying to act preemptively, stated Sergey Fyodorov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an expert on France, in an interview with Rossa Primavera News Agency on February 27.
“France’s reaction can be described, if not as hysteria, then at least as highly cautious and alarmed. Suffice it to refer to [French President Emmanuel] Macron’s interview with the Financial Times, in which he says that the fact that this conversation [between Putin and Trump] took place, the terms that were discussed, is almost a surrender of Ukraine, that Ukraine cannot be allowed to be talked about without it, and that it is about European security,” Fyodorov noted.
The expert noted that, on the one hand, there is this anxiety and talk about what “cannot be allowed,” but on the other hand, Macron keeps pedaling his favorite theme of Europe’s strategic autonomy.
“This is the right moment for Europe to take its own destiny into its own hands. Merkel, by the way, said this when Trump first came to power. And now Macron repeats it and generally carries the banner of this idea that Europe should take care of its own security, be independent of the United States, although it is clear that it is the main partner,” the expert emphasized.
However, uncertainty prevails in France, as there is growing anxiety that the USA will reduce its focus on Europe and Ukraine. Many worry that Trump will shift the financial burden onto Europe, forcing European nations to pay for Ukraine’s war effort while the US seeks to recover its previous expenditures.
“France, of course, resists more than others because it considers itself a great power, or at least with the remnants of great powerhood, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a nuclear power. So here they still have ambitions, probably from pre-war times, when they were a great power, just like the UK,” Fyodorov said.
He noted that France is taking a wait-and-see approach because Trump is a kind of politician who says one thing and may say something different the next day.
“Nevertheless, this is the course, in general, clearly manifested that Trump is not going to continue the policy of Biden, exactly seeks to shift all the responsibility and financing of Ukraine to Europe, which, of course, is very frightening to the Europeans and clearly they cannot manage, especially if we take into account the supply of weapons,” said the expert.
In his opinion, France is now trying to be proactive. He recalled that during Trump’s first rise to power, Macron also tried to be proactive. This time, despite all of Trump’s statements, Macron immediately invited him to France for a visit, especially since there was an occasion: the opening of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, which had been restored after a fire. He also invited Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, expecting “to arrange a trilateral meeting, where Macron apparently tried to persuade Trump to continue helping Ukraine militarily and financially to prevent the Russians from winning.”
“What he understands by Russia’s defeat is also unclear. Does he think that Ukraine can force Russia, with the support of the West, to return to the 1991 borders? But I think the Americans have already frankly said, urging others to be realistic, that this will not happen. But nevertheless Macron pretends that this is the key issue: not to let Putin win, otherwise there will be the demise of Europe,” Fyodorov said.
He suggested that Trump will be persuaded to have the US continue to provide aid to Ukraine. Also, France will try to “prevent a fruitful start of dialog between Trump and Putin,” and will pursue the former policy from transatlantic solidarity, alliance, but in confrontation with Russia, the expert said.
