Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the French press this week and passed on a message to the people. ‘Your children are not going to die in Ukraine,’ he said.
He made his remarks 24 hours before the French parliament voted on a bilateral security agreement that Zelensky signed with President Emmanuel Macron last month. The vote, which went the way of the government by 372 to 99, is symbolic but it allowed parliament to voice their opposition to Macron’s recent belligerent rhetoric towards Russia. The left-wing La France Insoumise voted against the agreement, and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally abstained.
A leader without a child is more likely to think only in the short term, of their political legacy
Le Pen reiterated her support for Ukraine but criticised Macron’s recent ‘warlike announcements’, which she said risked provoking an ‘aggravation of the conflict’. She also accused Macron and government of indulging in ‘cheap party politics’ ahead of June’s European elections.
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