Ukraine hits back after Macron says ‘don’t humiliate Russia’

Ukraine’s foreign minister has criticized Emmanuel Macron after the French leader said Russia must not be “humiliated” over the invasion of its neighbor.

In an interview with a regional newspaper, Macron said: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means.”

He added that he was “convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power”.

The president’s comments come as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has passed its 100-day mark, with intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.

In response to Macron, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: “Calls to avoid the humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it.”

He added: “We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place”.

Macron has spoken to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin a number of times on the phone in an effort to encourage negotiations between the two sides.

In recent weeks, Russia has concentrated its forces on the industrial city of Severodonetsk in Luhansk, in one of the biggest ground battles of the war.

Before the war, the city had a population of about 100,000 people.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES