Macron Must Avoid the Immolation of French Influence

President Macron’s aspiration to mediate between Putin, who does not respect him, and Ukraine, which does not trust him, is damaging French influence at a time when European leadership is critical.
French President Emmanuel Macron has once again put himself forward as the leading voice for a negotiated end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that does not ‘humiliate’ President Vladimir Putin. In this he echoes an increasingly regular drumbeat of articles in the New York Times and other broadsheets emphasising the risks of an open-ended conflict with Russia and the inevitability of eventual compromise.