Macron: I tried to explain Ukraine's importance

BFMTV reported the information, according to European Pravda.

During his two-day state visit to Portugal on Thursday, Macron urged Europeans to be "more united and stronger than ever" and to reject the "happy vassal dependence" on the United States, as negotiations regarding Ukraine accelerate on both sides of the Atlantic.

This official visit to Portugal, the first by a French head of state in over a quarter of a century, aimed, according to the Élysée Palace, to "highlight the depth and strength of ties" between the two countries.

However, Macron took the opportunity to deliver his message to Europeans, urging them to "rekindle the taste for risk, ambition, and power" in the face of the unpredictability of Donald Trump's United States, both on the issue of Ukraine and trade tariffs.

"I see many people in our Europe who say, 'We must be nice to the Americans, this will pass, we must bend our backs,'" he said.

"But the answer is not in submission," and "I am not for happy vassalization," Macron added.

On the contrary, "Europeans can be certain of one thing: they must be united and stronger than ever," and for this, "we absolutely need to make a very deep choice... in technological, industrial (and) defense matters," he stated.

However, the visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington on Friday to agree on the development of Ukrainian mineral resources "is a very good thing," said the French president, who himself visited the White House on Monday.

"I tried to explain the importance of Ukraine and its 'existential struggle' for 'sovereignty' and 'the security of Europeans,'" he recalled.

The Prime Minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro, also congratulated his guest "for his outstanding work on the international stage, aimed at taking positive actions for peace in Ukraine," as well as "in other geographical regions to stabilize conflicts."

• France has been negotiating with Ukraine since October 2024 about using Ukrainian minerals for its defense industry.