MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Pierre de Gaulle, a French public activist and the grandson of General Charles de Gaulle, the founder of the Fifth French Republic, has called on President Emmanuel Macron to drop aggressive rhetoric on the Ukrainian crisis and join peace efforts.
"President Macron has opted to plunge into polemics and has taken an aggressive position on the conflict in Ukraine and on Russia. The outcome is that now France cannot be sitting at the negotiating table. I regret this, I condemn this. This is a far cry from my grandfather’s position," he told TASS.
"When you want peace, you don’t indulge in debating. If you don’t want to sour relations with Russia, you can’t go saying that you want Ukraine to win," he noted. "You cannot have a foot in both camps. You must have a clear position. And this clear position mustbe the position of France, an independent country, a great nation, which has been strong and playing a significant role in the international arena for centuries."
Pierre de Gaulle expressed hope that "peace will be established swiftly, now, without delays," and France "will take part in this, even if not immediately."
On October 16, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US leader Donald Trump announced that the two leaders had agreed to meet soon in Budapest. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that Moscow and Washington would "without delay" begin preparations for a new summit between Putin and Trump, possibly to be held in the Hungarian capital. In response, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the formation of an organizing committee to facilitate the summit, stating that the preparations "began Thursday evening."