Macron: "This war is a triple failure for Russia"

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned into a triple failure for Moscow and stressed that support for Ukraine in its fight against aggression will continue.

Macron stated on X that "this war is a triple failure for Russia" – military, economic and strategic.

"It has strengthened NATO – the very expansion Russia sought to prevent – galvanised Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of imperialism from another age," he said.

Macron emphasised that while the Kremlin had promised to capture Ukraine within days, only 1% of Ukrainian territory has been seized since the front line stabilised in November 2022, and last month Ukraine even regained some areas.

"And at what cost for the Russians? More than 1.2 million Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed – the highest number of Russian combat casualties since the Second World War," the French president said.

Faced with such losses, he added, Russia is recruiting people on the African continent to send them to fight on the Ukrainian front, often without any prior training.

Macron stated that the supply of equipment and ammunition to Ukraine, training, strengthening air defence and counter-drone capabilities, as well as maintenance of previously delivered equipment, will continue "so that Ukraine can hold – and so that Russia understands that time is not on its side".

In mid-February, Macron criticised pessimistic assessments regarding Ukraine, arguing that the war has in fact weakened Russia.

He also said that deploying troops to Ukraine now would mean escalation and a loss of control over the situation.