France’s Macron calls for giving security to Russia

PARIS - An essential point in peace talks on the war in Ukraine should be how to provide security guarantees to Russia, given Moscow's concerns over NATO, President Emmanuel Macron of France has said.

Mr. Macron's comments, in a television interview on Saturday, picked up a theme he has pursued since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 but has not repeated of late. Macron said that we need to prepare, what we are going to do, how we protect our allies and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia when it returns to the negotiating table.

One of the things that President Putin must address is the fear that NATO will come up to its doors and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia, he said.

The interview with TF 1, a French television network, appeared sympathetic to the concerns of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and was immediately picked up by TASS, the Russian state news agency. It caused an angry reaction in Ukraine.