President Emmanuel Macron of France on Tuesday called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a return to “imperialism” and said that those who remained silent or were “secretly complicit” were engaging in a “new cynicism” that was eroding the global order.
Addressing world leaders on the opening day of the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Mr. Marcon said: “Today we need to make a simple choice – war or peace.”
He recalled that at the end of February, “Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, through an act of aggression and invasion and annexation, broke our collective security … when it deliberately violated the UN Charter and the principle of sovereign equality of states.”
The French President said the International Court Of Justice (ICJ) had declared Russia’s aggression illegal and called for the withdrawal of its troops, even as Russia continued its aggression, possibly paving the way for “for other wars of annexation in Europe, today and perhaps tomorrow in Asia, or Africa or Latin America.”
“The longer this war goes on, the more it threatens Europe and the world. It could lead to greater conflict where security and sovereignty no longer depend on the strength of alliances, but on the strength of armed groups… and subjugation of others,” he said, adding: “What we have seen is a return to the age of imperialism. France rejects this and will steadfastly search for peace.”
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