Maroc - dailynews.co.za - News - 18/Feb 11:38

Macron warns: No Ukraine peace without robust security guarantees

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that peace in Ukraine "must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees", following a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky."We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians," Macron said on social media platform X."Otherwise, there is a risk that this ceasefire will end up like the Minsk agreements," he said, referring to the pacts that sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.The call with Zelensky came after Macron hosted an emergency meeting in Paris with European leaders to discuss responding to the significant US policy shift on Ukraine initiated by President Donald Trump.European leaders fear that Trump wants to make peace with Russia in talks that will not involve Kyiv, let alone the European Union.Zelensky said on his own social media post that Macron had briefed him on the talks with European leaders and that they shared a "common vision" for how to achieve peace."We share a common vision: security guarantees must be robust and reliable," he said on X."Any other decision without such guarantees—such as a fragile ceasefire—would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations."AFPGet your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.