The refusal Wednesday, April 13 of French President Emmanuel Macron to denounce a “genocide” in Ukraine by the Russian army is “very hurtful”lamented his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. “If true, such comments are very hurtful to us”Volodymyr Zelensky said at a joint press conference with the Polish, Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian heads of state, visiting kyiv. “I will do my best to discuss this issue with Emmanuel Macron (…) when he finds the time”added the Ukrainian President.
“I am not sure that the escalation of words serves the cause”
Earlier in the day, Emmanuel Macron had chosen not to use the term “genocide” used by his American counterpart Joe Biden to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. “I would say that Russia unilaterally unleashed a brutal war, that it is now established that war crimes were committed by the Russian army and that it is now necessary to find those responsible.”said Emmanuel Macron at first. “It’s madness what is happening, it’s incredibly brutal (…) but at the same time I look at the facts and I want to try as much as possible to continue to be able to stop this war and to rebuild peace, so I’m not sure that the escalation of words serves the cause”he continued.
The word is debated
The spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy, Oleg Nikolenko, reacted quickly, judging the position of Emmanuel Macron “disappointing”. On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden for the first time accused Vladimir Putin of leading a “genocide” in Ukraine, a word previously used by Volodymyr Zelensky but never by the American administration. On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke for the first time about a “genocide”.
This word is controversial because it is legally defined very precisely. An investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also underway to qualify Russian abuses in Ukraine. “We must pierce the fog of war to get to the truth”said Wednesday the prosecutor of the CPE, visiting Boutcha where hundreds of civilians were massacred by the Russian army.