Emmanuel Macron was invited to France 2 on Thursday June 18 to speak on various current topics, notably the agreement signed between the United States and Iran, as well as the war in Ukraine.
In the Middle East, a war not “completely over”
Emmanuel Macron said he did not “believe” that the war between the United States and Iran “is completely over”, despite an agreement signed the day before by Donald Trump at Versailles.
“It is always better to have an agreement than war, especially when there may be risks of escalation,” added the French president. “We are entering a new phase which is that of cooperation, of dialogue, which is better than war.”
The head of state reported that the American president’s decision to sign the agreement with Iran in Versailles, during a dinner to which he had invited him at the end of the G7 summit in Evian, “was made quite spontaneously.”
Criticism of the Israeli offensive in Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “must demonstrate a spirit of responsibility and rationality”, then said Emmanuel Macron, judging that the offensive against Hezbollah in South Lebanon “is in the long term contrary to Israel’s interests”.
“Hezbollah is a risk for Israel, that’s absolutely true,” but the security of the Jewish state “cannot be ensured by the conquest of a neighboring territory,” declared the French president, stressing that Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy, both in Lebanon and in Gaza and the West Bank, “fuels resentment and violence among all the populations of the region.”
He added that he would once again seek to mobilize the international community to “help the Lebanese army regain control of its territory”.
“A drone war” between Ukraine and Russia
Emmanuel Macron highlighted the “stunning” drone production capacity of Ukraine, which is resisting Russia with “a valor that is astonishing”.
“Today we have a drone war and in this war, the Ukrainian production capacity is astonishing,” noted the French president, reacting to the vast drone attack launched Thursday morning by kyiv against Moscow.
“Ukraine is resisting with a valor, a capacity for innovation and military production that has amazed everyone since day one,” he added.
Call for vigilance in the face of heatwave
Emmanuel Macron also called on the French to be “greatly vigilant” in the face of the heatwave which is set to last for several days in the country “because these are difficult days that we are going to live through”.
“I really want to encourage all our compatriots who are listening to us to be extremely vigilant, to take precaution, to take care of the oldest, the most vulnerable like children and to follow all the government’s recommendations,” declared the President of the Republic on France 2. “Because these are difficult days that we are experiencing and therefore we must take care a lot and listen to the advice.”
The climate is one of the subjects “on which we will not agree” with American President Donald Trump, he added, as well as gender equality and “the relationship to international law”.
