Emmanuel Macron, the current President of France, is hopping mad at Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC this week, he chastized the Russian head of state for rejecting a proposal to declare a truce with Ukraine for the duration of this year’s Olympic games—something which is traditionally done between warring powers during Olympic years. Putin’s recalcitrance on the matter, Macron said, is an announcement to the world that Russia is simply “not ready to make peace.”
Macron called the truce rejection a clarifying moment. Until now, he said, President Putin had claimed regularly that he was open to making peace with Ukraine. Now that Putin has a specific peace offer on the table, he’s rejected it. Everyone in the world should now be certain, Macron said, that the Russian President, who instigated the war in the first place, is not interested in peace.
This year’s summer Olympic games are scheduled to begin in France on the 26th of July. Macron has been pushing for a truce as the leader of the host country, as he believes that the tradition of the Olympic truce should be honored. Ongoing hostilities during the Olympic games create unique security concerns for all countries participating in the games.
In the CNBC interview, Macron said that he believes that the Olympics present a unique moment to reduce hostility in the world and to maximize pressure on those who long for war. He further expects that the games represent an opportunity to build stronger ties between China and the international community in furtherance of the goal of world peace.
The truce, Macron said, is not the endgame he desires. It is merely a step on the road to the real endgame: sustainable peace. Still, it is a shame, in his view, to waste the window of opportunity presented by the Olympic games to strengthen international solidarity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Ukraine also rejected Macron’s truce proposal.
