France has said it was “essential” for Europe and the United States to work together to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It comes as Russian president Vladimir Putin visited India to strengthen relations and underscore his claim that the West has failed to isolate his country.
“Unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it again and again, we need to work together,” French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday during a visit to China, a day after Germany’s Spiegel magazine reported that he had warned European leaders that the White House might betray Kyiv.
“We need the United States for peace. The United States need us for this peace to be lasting and robust … We welcome and support the peace efforts being made by the United States of America,” he added, saying he “denied everything” when asked about the report.
“So there’s no scenario where a lasting peace in Ukraine is done without joint efforts between the Europeans, the Americans, the Canadians, the Australians and the Japanese.”
The state of play over US peace proposals is unclear, following a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday between Mr Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and talks planned for Thursday in Miami between Mr Witkoff and Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov.
“The special military operation (SVO) will continue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, using Russia’s term for the full-scale invasion of pro-western Ukraine that it launched in February 2022.
“If we are unable to resolve the problem and achieve our goals through peaceful means, then we will continue the SVO and do everything necessary to protect our interests,” he added.
“At the same time, of course, we are prepared to be flexible in finding a solution. We remain open to negotiations and want to continue them and launch serious work based on the draft document prepared by Trump’s team.”
[ Putin visit to India set to further strengthen ties despite western effortsOpens in new window ]
Several draft documents have been drawn up during different rounds of talks, and Russia insists that nothing should be made public about the negotiations – deepening fears in Kyiv and many other European capitals that Mr Putin and Mr Trump could strike a secret bargain and present it to the world as a done deal.
US vice-president JD Vance said on Thursday that “the Russia-Ukraine thing has been a source of perennial frustration, I think, for the entire White House.
“I do think, for what it’s worth, that we have made a lot of progress, but we’re not yet quite across the finish line there,” he added. “I think there’s hope – should hopefully be some good news the next few weeks on that front.”
Mr Putin and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi praised relations between their countries during the Russian leader’s state visit, and said they remained strong despite Mr Trump imposing heavy tariffs on goods from India to punish it for being a major buyer of the oil and arms that replenish the Kremlin’s war chest.
[ Ukraine urges West not to repeat 'betrayal' of Munich by appeasing RussiaOpens in new window ]
US tariff pressure has driven Indian imports of Russian oil down to three-year lows.
“The leaders emphasised that in the current complex, tense and uncertain geopolitical situation, Russian-Indian ties remain resilient to external pressure,” Mr Modi and Mr Putin said in a joint statement.
“Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal – everything required for the development of India’s energy,” Mr Putin said. “We are ready to continue uninterrupted shipments of fuel for the fast-growing Indian economy.”
Mr Modi said India’s relations with Russia were based on “mutual respect and deep trust,” and that they had agreed an economic co-operation plan to “make our trade and investment more diversified, balanced, and sustainable”.
