World
Film reveals Macron’s diplomatic bids amid war in Ukraine
PARIS (AP) — “Vladimir …. inform me what your intentions are.”
4 days earlier than President Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron was making a last-ditch try to stop the battle in a key cellphone name revealed in a French TV documentary.
Within the uncommon public recording of a dialogue between two world leaders, Macron tries to persuade the Russian president to “calm issues down” within the area. However all his recommendations attain a lifeless finish on Putin’s facet.
The French documentary “A President, Europe and Warfare” provides a novel behind-the-scenes take a look at months of diplomatic wrangling amid Europe’s worst disaster in a long time. It was meant to deal with Macron throughout France’s management of the rotating EU presidency, however ended up capturing historic moments in Ukraine’s battle, together with following Macron to Moscow and on two journeys to Kyiv.
In the course of the name with Putin on Feb. 20, each leaders use the casual model of the phrase “you” to talk to one another, in a really direct tone.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is mendacity to you,” Putin tells Macron, accusing authorities in Kyiv of getting come to energy by means of “a bloody coup. Individuals have been burned alive, it was a massacre.” Zelenskyy was democratically elected in 2019; Putin gave the impression to be referring to his personal interpretation of earlier occasions in Ukraine.
In some unspecified time in the future, the French president barely raises his voice, visibly irritated: “I don’t know the place your lawyer realized regulation,” he says, overtly criticizing Russian views.
Macron can be heard pushing for a gathering between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden. Putin agrees in precept, however says he wants his aides to organize the talks first. The assembly by no means takes place.
“It was like a extremely powerful dialog between two individuals that have been completely opposed,” stated French journalist Man Lagache, who filmed and directed the movie on his personal. He was embedded with the Elysee’s diplomatic service — distinctive entry in a rustic the place the president controls his public picture and diplomatic aides are normally stored out of digital camera sight.
Putin’s promise to fulfill with Biden turned out to be “a lie,” Lagache advised The Related Press. “But when you don’t attempt to do this (negotiate a gathering), you’ll be able to’t know whether or not he’s going to lie.”
Lagache’s feedback echo these of Macron’s prime diplomatic aide, Emmanuel Bonne, who warns within the documentary that Putin “all the time lies.”
The Russian president, who likes to publicize his athletic exploits, closes the dialogue in his personal approach — telling Macron he’s speaking “from the fitness center.”
“I wished to go play ice hockey,” he says.
One other cellphone name permits viewers to really feel Zelenskyy’s shock and horror and the urgency of the second on the day the battle began.
“The Russians, it’s horrible what they do. … Now they’re in Kyiv, we’re combating in Kyiv, Emmanuel,” Zelenskyy tells Macron. Macron stays silent for a number of seconds.
“Sure, it’s complete battle,” the Ukrainian chief confirms.
When Bonne, the diplomatic adviser, tries 4 occasions to name his Russian counterpart on his cell phone, it’s in useless. “They’ve the nerve to wage battle, however not the braveness to talk,” he says, seemingly powerless.
Lagache stated that being there and filming, he might “really feel the drama that’s unfolding.”
“And also you see that politics can also be — and before everything — about folks, (finished) by the folks looking for options in a really complicated state of affairs,” he added.
The documentary, launched in France final week, provides scenes hardly ever seen on tv.
Macron could be seen holding a gathering in his bunker below the Elysee palace and dealing along with his group within the presidential airplane, sporting a blue hoodie.
The movie additionally exhibits at size the work of diplomatic advisers, from getting ready Macron’s speech to texting him throughout his cellphone calls with world leaders.
In a surreal second simply earlier than the battle, Macron’s aides handle to avoid wasting a attainable contract value a billion euros for French rail large Alstom by sending a last-minute, handwritten word to the French president as he’s assembly with Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Lagache specified that he paid consideration to not disclose any labeled info. No particular particulars about France’s navy assist to Ukraine seem within the documentary.
It additionally doesn’t present the dialogue between Macron and Zelenskyy after the French president made feedback that riled the Ukrainians about not humiliating Russia.
The documentary highlights European leaders’ coordination to assist Ukraine and impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia.
The digital camera follows Macron with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Premier Mario Draghi within the practice on their technique to Kyiv in mid-June, the place they pledged arms and backed Ukraine’s candidacy to hitch the European Union. The leaders visited close by Irpin, a suburb the place many civilians have been killed, with Macron saying he noticed indicators of “battle crimes.”
“What issues to me is to attempt to be helpful, and make it possible for the battle doesn’t unfold, that Ukraine can cease it and get again in management, and that the Europeans keep united,” Macron says on the way in which again. “A lot stays to be finished. It’s not over.”
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Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris contributed.
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Observe the AP’s protection of the battle at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
World
US East Coast Port Strike Set to Start Tuesday, Says Union
World
Lithuanian FM warns Russia can do 'so much damage to its neighbors'
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis shared with Fox News Digital his perspective as someone on the border of the Ukraine invasion, including concerns Russia can do “so much damage” even as its power wanes.
“In 2014, before the first war in Ukraine, people in the U.S. and … Western leaders would say ‘Russia is going down, it’s on its way down, its regional power – it’s not a global power anymore, its influence is waning,’” Landsbergis said. “But on its way down, it can do so much damage to its neighbors.”
“It’s not the right assessment,” he added, saying that even if Russia were declining as much as Western leaders think, the death “convulsions” of such a great power could “last for decades.”
“Who knows when or how it would stop … it’s a very difficult thing to imagine, to predict,” he said.
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Lithuania has remained one of the most vocal nations in Eastern Europe throughout Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, even before the 2014 invasion of Crimea. Part of that has been to proudly embrace NATO’s role on the continent.
While Lithuania fell far below the 2% required expenditure on defense in 2014, by 2021 – a full year before the invasion of Ukraine started – Lithuania had met the requirement and only continued increasing its defense expenditure.
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Lithuania in 2023 hit 3.2% expenditure, making it one of the highest-spending (by percent of GDP) members of NATO after only Poland, the U.S., Greece and Estonia.
Landsbergis used this – and the general increase in defense spending among NATO members over the past two years – to argue that European countries have proven their ability to “muster strength” and stand up to a power of Russia’s size.
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“Even the biggest critics should have to admit that more than $100 billion, now … I mean, it’s huge. Nobody really could have predicted that Europe would be able to do that,” Landsbergis said.
“The question is: Is that enough? And does that forbid such action against your neighbor like Ukraine to be repeated in the future?” he said. “This is where we see a problem that Europe needs to grow because every industry in Europe needs to step up with its spending towards defense.”
When pressed on whether Europe lacks clear leadership or has stagnated in recent years, Landsbergis disagreed but acknowledged that the union has room to improve.
“The union is structured with 27 members and each with a veto, right?” Landsbergis noted. “It’s difficult to have a smooth process that doesn’t require a lot of debate or consensus building.”
“This is the way that we are currently at this juncture. There’s talk about the need for reform,” he added. “I think that it … will be happening. Europe has to adapt to the new requirements of this age and time, and maybe the principles change as well.”
World
Former Netanyahu rival Gideon Saar joins Israeli cabinet
The move will boost the prime minister’s governing coalition domestically as Israel attacks countries across the region.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that his former rival Gideon Saar is joining the Israeli cabinet, a move that will boost the government coalition and bolster its support in the country’s parliament.
The hawkish Saar will serve as a minister without a portfolio, the prime minister said on Sunday.
Saar’s inclusion in the government coalition takes its support in the 120-seat Israeli parliament from 64 to 68, weakening the de facto veto power that far-right parties have over the cabinet.
The move comes as Israel intensifies its attacks on Lebanon, Gaza and across the Middle East in what is increasingly looking like a wider regional war.
Saar had been one of Netanyahu’s most vocal critics in recent years, but the Israeli prime minister suggested that the two politicians have been on the same page since the start of the war on Gaza.
“Gideon accepted my request and agreed to return to the government,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“During security cabinet discussions, I was deeply impressed by Saar’s broad vision and his ability to offer creative solutions to complex problems. On more than one occasion, we have seen eye to eye on the necessary actions. It’s no secret that we’ve had our differences in the past, but since October 7, we have both put all past grievances behind us.”
For his part, Saar said described the decision to join the government as “the patriotic and right thing to do now”.
“At this time, it is crucial to strengthen Israel, its government, and the unity and cohesion within it,” he said.
Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was considering replacing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant with Saar. Haaretz and Ynet also reported that Saar and Netanyahu were jointly going to pick the new Israeli army chief to replace Herzi Halevi.
A former lawyer and journalist, Saar was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Netanyahu, who made him his cabinet secretary during his first term in office.
He was considered a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud Party and one of the few independent voices in a party that has largely been synonymous with the prime minister and his policies.
Saar defected from Likud after unsuccessfully challenging Netanyahu for the party’s leadership. Late in 2020, Saar formed his own political movement – dubbed New Hope.
Expanding the government will likely strengthen Netanyahu by making him less reliant on other members of his coalition.
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