The French president’s comments came during a live appearance on his social media channels.
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“The Russians have globalized the war in Ukraine,” Emmanuel Macron said during a live appearance on his social media channels in response to a question asking if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to World War III. | Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
February 20, 2025 7:26 pm CET
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of bringing Europe to the precipice of a new world war on Thursday during a live social media appearance.
“The Russians have globalized the war in Ukraine,” Macron said in response to a question asking if Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to World War III.
While the French president said he is “wary of bold words,” he pointed out that Russia is using Iranian drones to strike targets in Ukraine and has deployed North Korean troops to the front lines.
“There’s a conflict in Ukraine, in which Russians, as a matter of fact, have made things global,” Macron said. “Will [the war] be limited to this theater? Let’s hope so.”
Macron’s stinging rebuke of the Kremlin’s war comes as Western leaders scramble to react to the likelihood that U.S. President Donald Trump will abandon the transatlantic alliance that has underpinned the European security since 1945.
The French president confirmed his plans to travel to Washington next week, where he will try to convince Trump that caving to Putin’s demands would make him appear weak in the eyes of China and Iran.
Macron also contradicted the U.S. president’s description of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator,” saying the Ukrainian leader had been democratically elected, and defended Zelenskyy’s decision not to hold new elections in 2024 in the middle of a war with millions having fled abroad or on active combat duty.
Macron said he had organized the live feed, which lasted more than an hour, to educate the French on the issues the country is facing and to push back on some of the “fake news” he has encountered in recent days. Among the issues he was asked about were rumors of a draft, which he shot down.
However, Macron urged viewers to realize that “we’re entering a time when each and every one of us must ask ourselves what we can do for the nation.”
“You have a role to play,” Macron said.
The French president referred several times to World War II and to former President Charles de Gaulle, who led the French Liberation Army’s resistance against German occupation. Macron said stepping up to Russia was necessary to defend the country’s interests.
While he declined to compare Russia to Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Macron said it was important to see the country “for what it is: it is a dangerous military power that has become imperialist.”
Macron was also asked about the formation of a common European army, but said diverging views on defense strategy within the bloc made a joint force unlikely. At the same time, however, he again appealed for European strategic autonomy and common loans to pay for defense spending.
It’s unclear how much more debt France can take on, in light of its budgetary crisis, which has prompted the current government to drastically cut spending.
Macron said increasing French spending on defense to 5 percent of gross domestic product — which Trump has asked of NATO members — was “one of the questions” he was examining.
Earlier in the day, Macron gathered French political party heads to discuss the war in Ukraine and said that spending 5 percent of GDP on defense could be on the table if the United States “decided to stop protecting Europe,” radio station France Inter reported.