Macron Offers Government Plane to Zelensky, Calling It "France's Way of Peacebuilding"

"Zelensky Attends G7, Brazil and India Help Understand Ukraine Situation"
After Summit, Moves to Mongolia... French President's First Visit to Mongolia

French President Emmanuel Macron said on the 21st (local time) that providing the French government’s official plane for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attendance at the Group of Seven (G7) summit was "how France builds peace and finds solutions."

President Macron, speaking to reporters in Hiroshima, Japan, where the G7 summit was held, said he considered it an "honor" that President Zelensky used the French official plane when heading to Hiroshima after concluding the Arab League (AL) summit in Saudi Arabia, according to dpa and other news agencies.

Macron, who stated that the war in Ukraine is not just a European conflict, evaluated this year’s G7 summit, attended by leaders from 15 countries, as "an opportunity to discuss, exchange views, and persuade several countries in the Global South such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia, which have had limited interaction with Ukraine."

President Macron said that at the G7 summit, President Zelensky "was able to express his position in front of several world powers that are sometimes exposed only to a single discourse." He added that this aligns with France’s national interests and its role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

He also emphasized the importance of this August’s BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in preventing the world from being divided between those who support Ukraine and peace and those who claim to support peace without truly understanding what it means.

French President Emmanuel Macron. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

President Macron said, "We support Ukraine in every way, and the European Union (EU) sanctioned Russia when France held the presidency," but added, "Since the beginning of the war, we have said that at some point the gunfire must stop, and we must create solutions for peace."

After concluding the G7 summit, President Macron visited Mongolia, a democracy situated between China and Russia. On the afternoon of the same day, he visited the Genghis Khan Museum in the capital Ulaanbaatar, had dinner with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Kh?rels?kh, and then returned to France.

This is the first time a French president has visited Mongolia. According to AFP, France has been striving to engage in dialogue with countries that have not publicly condemned Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, and Mongolia is one of them.

An official from the ?lys?e Palace, the French presidential office, explained, "We are working to diversify partnerships so that Mongolia can deal with its neighboring powers, Russia and China," adding, "(France) hopes to ease the constraints faced by Russia’s neighboring countries and give them choices."

Mongolia’s dependence on China is high, with 86% of its total exports going to China. Amid intensifying US-China hegemonic competition, the US held its first strategic dialogue with Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar last August, seeking economic and security cooperation, showing considerable effort.