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French political commentators reacted with cautious optimism after Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with Donald Trump on Monday, which was considered by some as a “last chance” to ensure a balanced and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Gérard Araud, a former French ambassador to the US, said the French president had undertaken what he called “mission impossible” but pointed out that Macron had experience of dealing with the volatile US leader.
“In a way this trip was a last chance … the Europeans are very worried and he went there to avoid the worst. He is the only one who can do this, firstly the Germans had an elections and the British have left Europe,” Araud told BFMTV. “The worry of Europeans is that Trump will deliver Ukraine hands and feet tied to Russia.”
He added: “I was ambassador during the first Donald Trump administration and I can attest that he [Macron] knew how to maintain a good working relation.”
Asked if he thought Macron’s mission had succeeded, Araud said: “It was mission impossible and he did his best. Did he succeed? We will see in the coming days.”
In an editorial FranceInfo wrote: “Emmanuel Macron has already scored a point by being the first European head of state to visit Donald Trump since his election. He got his foot in the door.
“He still had to make sure he didn’t come back empty handed and, on the face of it, that’s the case. But we must remain cautious, as we know how unpredictable the occupant of the White House is and that what is agreed today, or rather what appears to be agreed … will not necessarily be agreed tomorrow. Each of the two leaders may have chosen what suited them.”
Claude Blanchemaison, a former French ambassador to Moscow, said Macron had “done well” to go to Washington on Monday and that the French president had been “well prepared” for the difficult meeting.
“He had consulted all the other Europeans at the very start of the week plus a few non-Europeans, he arrived armed with a certain number of arms and also it was the day the EU was able to agree a new set of sanctions against Russia,” Blanchemaison told FranceInfo.
The economic newspaper, Les Echos, said Macron was “optimistic” about the visit.
“Emmanuel Macron was playing a complex game in Washington … preserving and relaunching the personal relationship he formed with the American president during their first term in office. And at the same time defending Ukraine and reinvigorating a transatlantic alliance weakened by an administration in a hurry to disengage from the old continent,” it wrote.
“The good understanding displayed between the two leaders in reality masks deep-seated differences that were clearly visible on the same day at the United Nations,” it added.
Le Point magazine wrote: “There were jokes and smiles; ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘dear Donald’; nods and compliments.
“‘Emmanuel is a very special person’, according to Donald Trump, and he speaks ‘a very beautiful language’ … under the gilded East Room of the White House, the two leaders may repeat that they are on the same wavelength, but the differences are obvious.”
