Macron substantially toughening France’s position…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/p...ssia-x95thvcvz
President Macron pledges all-out French effort to help Ukraine defeat Russia
President Macron warned France today that the war in Ukraine will turn “very hard” by autumn and pledged an all-out French effort to stop Russia winning.
After reviewing a Bastille Day military parade led by contingents from the former Soviet-bloc Nato states, Macron accused Moscow of using its energy supplies as a weapon and said all Russian gas supplies to France would soon be stopped.
Macron, who has been accused by eastern Europeans of seeking to appease President Putin, used his first television interview since his re-election in April to strike a tough tone in support of Kyiv and the “unbelievable courage of the Ukrainians”.
“We have to prepare ourselves for the war to last for some time. The summer and the beginning of autumn are no doubt going to be very hard,” he said, referring to Russia’s
grinding offensive in the eastern Donbas region.
France would not falter in supplying weapons and supporting international sanctions, he said. “We want to stop this war without getting involved in the war ourselves. We have to do everything possible so that Russia cannot win and for Ukraine to defend its territory. We don’t want a world war, so we don’t want it to be extended [beyond Ukraine],” he added……
Macron warned France to brace for difficult times on the energy front. “Russia has already started to cut off gas supplies” by closing the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that delivers gas to the EU, he said. “That’s a very clear message: It will use gas as a weapon of war,” he said. “We will need to do without Russian gas completely.”
Only dependent on Russia for about 20 per cent of its gas, France is in a stronger position than Germany and other countries that import energy, he noted, but France must “enter a collective logic of restraint”, and reduce its consumption…..