French sources speaking to Bloomberg have revealed that Emmanuel Macron, who recently travelled to Guangdong to hold talks with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, has apparently tasked top diplomats from Paris to engage with Beijing in crafting a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
According to the report, the Elys?e believes that such a deal could possibly be struck by the summer should certain conditions be met, namely that Kyiv succeeds in its Spring counter-offensive to such a degree that the Zelensky government would be able to come to the table with Vladimir Putin from a position of strength.
An official from Macron’s office reportedly told the news outlet that the French president has tapped his foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne to work alongside the CCP’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to begin crafting a potential peace framework.
While Mr Macron was one of the few Western leaders willing to engage with Moscow in the early days following the invasion, he later fell in line with the neo-liberal establishment and backed sending billions to the region in the form of money and weapons to prop up the proxy war.
Peacemaker Macron Appeals to Chinese to Tell Russians to Please Stop Invading Ukraine https://t.co/CPNjX1pNnJ
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 6, 2023
In February, Beijing proposed a supposed framework for peace negotiations, including an immediate ceasefire, however, the approach was widely dismissed as being light on detail and unworkable given China’s close relationship with Russia.
Yet, apparently, the French president believes that the communist regime — which has openly threatened to launch a territorial war itself to capture the democratic independent nation of Taiwan — is a genuine actor in the cause for peace.
Speaking to London’s Daily Telegraph, a French official said: “Mr Macron said publicly during his trip that he wanted to get China to commit to playing a constructive role. Naturally, diplomatic discussions took place and there is a follow-up.”
The reports come as Macron cause outrage in Berlin, London, and Washington over his comments following his China trip, in which he said that Europe shouldn’t “follow” America into a conflict with Beijing if the communist nation invades Taiwan and that Europe should develop its own “strategic autonomy” to stop being the “vassal” of the United States.
Macron: Europe Should Reduce Reliance on U.S. Dollar, Avoid ‘Following America’ into Conflict with China https://t.co/YvVYV9qCTe
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 10, 2023
Should Macron actually pull off the feat, it would be a major embarrassment for the administration of President Joe Biden, which has focussed on a military outcome rather than an attempt to play peacemaker.
Biden, who vowed to bring stability to the world and revamp supposedly strained relations with allies following the Trump presidency, has overseen one of the most chaotic periods on the world stage in recent memory and has alienated allies from Paris to Jeddah.
However, it remains to be seen if Macron has the clout to broker a deal, with the Kremlin previously stating that France, alongside the United States, UK and Germany should not be considered as candidates to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow given that the Western powers have all sent weapons to be used on the battlefield against Russian soldiers. Russian President Putin’s obvious thirst for war and domestic damage to his reputation for being seen to bow to the west is also a critical stumbling block.
French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to become the first Western leader to supply Ukraine with tanks following talks with Zelensky. https://t.co/Fw0kuu9JPO
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 7, 2023
It is also questionable if France has enough credibility with the Ukrainians as well, with some, including former British Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, noting that his role in mediating the Minsk peace agreement alongside then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2014 has left a sour taste in the mouths of many in Ukraine given that it failed to prevent last year’s invasion.
“When I was in Ukraine I found they do not trust the Chinese and they don’t trust Macron, as he put them in this predicament in the first place when he came up with the disastrous agreement with Merkel in 2014,” Sir Iain said.
“They certainly don’t trust him since he went to China. They are saying: Macron has only one objective, and that is boosting Macron’s image, and he doesn’t care who he sells down the river to achieve that when he facing such a domestic mess,” the British MP said, adding: “His behaviour is really bizarre and redolent of a snake in the grass.”
But it might be Macron’s trouble at home that may sink his ambitions to play global leader, with his government embroiled in a crisis as millions of French citizens have revolted over the past month against the disastrous economic realities facing the nation after five years of his neo-liberal globalist governance style.
Macron Begs French Public for 100 Days to Solve National Crisis as Fiery Riots Continue https://t.co/jqez39WsEQ
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 18, 2023
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
