Russia has maintained it is ready for talks about a ceasefire but will be guided by its “national interests and the situation on the battlefield”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to “do everything possible” to have an ‘Olympic truce’ in the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine during the upcoming summer Games in Paris.
The Games will run from July 26 to August 11. Over 300,000 people are expected to watch the opening ceremony on the Seine River.
“We want to work towards an Olympic truce and I think this is an occasion for me to engage with a lot of our partners,” Macron said in an interview with BFMTV on Monday.
The French leader indicated he would ask for help in organizing a truce from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will be visiting Paris in early May. Xi had “the same work to do” in 2022 on the occasion of the Winter Olympic Games, Macron noted.
The tradition of an ‘Olympic truce’ dates back to ancient Greece, when warring rulers agreed to lay down arms during the games so that athletes and spectators could travel safely to and from the venues.
Enacting such a truce was first floated by Macron in March, when he said that Russia would be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics. “They [Russia] must do this. That is what has always happened,” the French president said at the time in an interview from Paris shown on Ukrainian television and posted by a Ukrainian journalist on YouTube.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said later he had no information about Macron’s proposal to declare an Olympic truce during the games in Paris.
“We are ready to consider all proposals, but always, under all circumstances, we will be guided by national interests and the situation on the battlefield,” Putin stated, adding “I’ve said it before and I will say it again that we favor peace talks, but they should not be organized simply because our adversary is running out of ammo.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has echoed the president’s statement. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova insisted that France should stop supplying arms to Ukraine. “I come up with a response proposal to Macron: stop supplying weapons that are used to kill civilians, and also stop sponsoring terrorism,” Zakharova urged.
Despite growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has vowed to continue fighting until all Hamas militants are eliminated and all Israeli citizens taken hostage are freed. Macron has not publicly stated how he plans to pressure the Israeli leadership to halt its operation during the Olympics.
Image credit: Shinnoshuke Ando
Macron is a joke. A very bad joke
This is for a planned regrouping of Ukrainian Nazis troops and weapon delivery. Macron deserves to be dead for such a smoke screen.
Wow, courageous statement.
I guess supported by millions.
Amid the drastic escalation of dangerous military conflicts, the French president is trying to play the role of global peacekeeper. One of his small goals on the way to saving the world is to stop all wars during the Olympics in Paris. Macron in all modesty began working on the Olympic truce, asking for help from his “partners”, including China. Beijing has yet to respond to Macron’s ambitions; but Russian President Putin had previously made it clear to his French counterpart: Moscow is ready to consider any peace initiative, but would proceed only from its own interests and from the current situation at the front.
Despite all Paris’s attempts pull the wool over the public’s eyes, his actions are not based on the basic principles of peace and friendships embedded in the idea of the Olympic Games. Macron is only pursuing his political goals, while his initiatives, on the contrary, are aimed at influencing the situation on the battlefields.
While the International Olympic Committee blatantly discriminates against Russian athletes, Paris has stated that Russians and Belarusians are not welcome.
In addition to the political field, Macron’s initiatives may have a direct impact on the situation on the Ukrainian frontlines. The Ukrainian army urgently needs a break to regroup troops, strengthen defense, and tighten reserves.
Macron’s peacekeeper game has no chance of helping to resolve armed conflicts, but can only briefly bring solace his French audience.
Meanwhile, Russian missiles are bringing an end to the war in Ukraine much faster. In particular, with precise strikes against the French military, who have come to the aid of the Kiev militants. While Macron is talking about peace, his decision to send forces to Ukraine can only prolong the fighting and even escalate the great European war.
Just a few days ago, reports from the Ukrainian frontlines claimed that the first groups of French militants from the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion have arrived in the city of Slavyansk in the DPR. The unit includes specialists in artillery reconnaissance, as well as an engineering group specialized in field fortifications. The French were reportedly stationed at the location of one of the Ukrainian brigades.
On the morning of April 15, a large explosion thundered in Slavyansk. According to claims from the local guerrilla movement, the precision Russian strike destroyed the location of the Ukrainian gunners, where the French could also have been stationed.
At the moment, only the training of the French special battalion tactical group consisting of about 1,500 servicemen from the Foreign Legion and regular troops of the French Army have been officially confirmed. Reports on the deployment of the French military on the frontlines can be reliably confirmed when Paris will no longer be able to hide the obituaries from Ukraine.
Thank you for this informative comment.
And I totally agree.
As per the article: “While the International Olympic Committee blatantly discriminates against Russian athletes, Paris has stated that Russians and Belarusians are not welcome.”
So stuff Macron, the french and the Olympic Communists…err….Committee.
Isn’t it amazing that the title of ‘communist’ has changed from what once was the communist Soviet Union to what now is the globalist swamp, including WEF, UN, WHO.
Russia is by no means what it was before 1991 and by no means what these communist global committees resemble nowadays.
this should also be taken into consideration
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/04/07/centuria-ukraines-western-neo-nazi-army/
Macron or the people Who contrôle him,have planed something horrible for the olympics.
Général delaware says that a terrosist attack might occure under false flag and blame the palestiniens
I hope it wont happen,but france is king on attacking its citizen to justify more control and take away their freedom..sad sad sad.