The French leader also warned that if the United States and Europe were not able to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, it would impact their credibility in the Indo-Pacific region as well.
“If the United States of America and the Europeans are unable to fix in the short term the Ukraine crisis, I think the credibility of the US and Europe to fix any other crisis in this region will be very low,” he said.
Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops.
Russia currently controls just under one-fifth of the country. Though Russian advances have accelerated over the past year, the war is costing both Russia and Ukraine dearly in terms of casualties and military spending.
Macron also warned of risks to Asia if a precedent was created by allowing Russia to take control of part of Ukraine’s territory unopposed.
“If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order … what could happen in Taiwan?”
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games, saying the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state.
