PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday renewed his calls for Europe to assume more responsibility for its own defense, saying it had for “too long avoided bearing the burden of its own security.”
Speaking alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte, who was visiting Paris in the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection as US President, Macron said he was “delighted” that other nations were falling in line with his longstanding call to collectively invest more in defense.
“It’s the agenda of European strategic autonomy that will allow us to have more money, to build capacity and autonomy for the Europeans, and an ability to cooperate with our non-European allies as part of the alliance,” Macron said.
Trump has questioned Washington’s commitment to defend NATO allies and spoken of slashing support to Ukraine or striking a deal with Russia to end its years-long invasion.
His return to the White House is a renewed spur to Europeans — long used to conventional and nuclear protection from the US military — to reexamine their own defense.
“Nothing should be decided about Ukraine without the Ukrainians, nor about Europe without the Europeans,” Macron said, adding that “building up homegrown military capacity would be “a long-term effort.”
He joined Rutte in calling North Korean troops’ appearance alongside Russian soldiers “a serious escalation” in the Ukraine conflict that widened the threat to the Pacific, increasingly the Americans’ priority theater.
“Russia, working together with North Korea, Iran and China, is not only threatening Europe, it threatens peace and security, yes here in Europe, but also in the Indo-Pacific and North America,” Rutte said.
“We must stand together — Europe, North America and our global partners... We have to keep our trans-atlantic alliance strong,” he added.
Rutte pointed to backing Russia has received from Iran, North Korea and China.
“We must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight. We need to raise the cost for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his enabling and authoritarian friends by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict,” he told reporters.
Europe has ‘avoided bearing burden of its own security’: Macron
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Europe has ‘avoided bearing burden of its own security’: Macron
- Macron said he was “delighted” that other nations were falling in line with his longstanding call to collectively invest more in defense
- “It’s the agenda of European strategic autonomy that will allow us to have more money, to build capacity and autonomy for the Europeans“
Zelensky visits Kupiansk as Ukraine retakes parts of frontline town
- “Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said
- Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk
KYIV: Ukrainian forces said they had retaken parts of the northeastern town of Kupiansk and had encircled Russian troops there as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the area and praised the operation, saying it strengthened Ukraine diplomatically.
With US-backed peace efforts underway, Moscow has said it is advancing on all fronts and that it has seized Kupiansk and the strategic city of Pokrovsk in the east. Kyiv has denied this, saying that the fighting is continuing.
In a video clip posted on his social media account on Friday, Zelensky, wearing a bulletproof vest, is seen standing in front of a sign bearing the town’s name at the entrance to Kupiansk.
“Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” Zelensky said in the clip.
RUSSIANS IN KUPIANSK ‘COMPLETELY CUT OFF’, KYIV SAYS
Ukraine’s Khartiia Corps of the National Guard said it had liberated several northern districts of Kupiansk.
Russian supply routes have been cut off and several hundred Russian troops are surrounded, Khartiia said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
“Today, we can say that the Russians in the city are completely cut off. For a long time, they couldn’t understand what was happening. But now they know they are surrounded,” Ihor Obolienskyi, Khartiia’s commander, was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet as saying.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian assertions.
Ukraine’s Deep State battlefield mapping project now shows at least three villages to the north and west of Kupiansk under Ukrainian control.
Kupiansk’s northern districts are also shown as being under Ukrainian control, and the map suggests Russian troops are encircled in the city center.
Military analysts said that in November, the pace of Russian advances had picked up to its highest this year as troops moved forward, taking control of smaller villages.
Russia said on Thursday it had captured the eastern town of Siversk. Kyiv said it remained under Ukrainian control.
