Macron offered Ukraine to give up sovereignty so that Putin would save face — President Zelensky

In an interview with Italian TV channel Rai 1, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had offered Ukraine to partially cede its sovereignty so that Russian President Vladimir Putin would save his face.

The Ukrainian leader said that Macron sought fruition in the mediation between Russia and Ukraine, but he failed to do so because of Moscow's position.

"It simply came to our notice then. It seems to me that this is not very reasonable on the part of certain leaders. We are not ready to save something for someone and lose our territories for it," Zelensky stressed.

He believes that in general, Putin will not be able to save face, and the Russian head of state should now be more preoccupied with how to save Russia.

In the same interview, the Ukrainian leader said that despite the atrocities of the Russians in the war, he was ready to negotiate with Putin, but on the terms of dialogue, not ultimatums, and without mediators.

The role of Macron

After February 24, French President Emmanuel Macron continued to call Putin regularly and said it was important to maintain a dialogue with him.

Moreover, on May 9, Macron said that the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union after obtaining candidate status could take years or even decades, and proposed the creation of a new organization for democratic European countries that are not members of the EU.

In this way, Macron proposes not to lower the standards of EU accession, but to create a parallel structure which former EU members or aspiring states can join.