Macron maneuvers between Trump and Putin

Wednesday's meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš ahead of the informal EU summit confirms their good mutual relations, which were already evident during Babiš's previous premiership. Nevertheless, a "communication dispute" took place around him.

Before leaving for Paris, Babiš denied that Ukraine was on the agenda of the meeting, in addition to topics to increase Europe's competitiveness and energy. "This disinformation was provided by the French ambassador, who was not involved in the preparation of my visit. I will not negotiate with the President about Ukraine," the Prime Minister said. Nevertheless, the embassy said that issues around Ukraine were to be discussed.

In the end, however, after the end of the negotiations, it turned out that Macron had briefly commented on Ukraine. According to Babiš, he said that Ukraine is resisting the aggressor and does not expect a quick end to the war.

However, this was clearly not one of the main topics on the table at the Elysée Palace, which corresponds to the line of the ruling coalition, which, unlike the previous government, does not want to make Ukraine the center of Czech foreign policy.

Nevertheless, it pays off for Prague to closely follow the French strategy for what is happening in Eastern Europe. In December, Macron first said it would be "useful to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin again," which was followed by a trip by his foreign policy adviser Emmanuel Bonne to Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov in early February.

Macron was supported by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who believes that "the time has come to talk to Moscow", as well as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He said that "it is necessary to find a 'long-term balance with Russia'".

Macron summed up these considerations in an interview with several European newspapers on Tuesday, where he said that it is necessary to have a political dialogue with Russia because our "geographical location will not change, whether we like Russia or not." And he added a crucial thing: Europe must not depend on Washington to resolve the war in Ukraine.

This concern is justified. Although the Europeans have already taken on the role of the main financial and military supporters of Ukraine under pressure from Washington, they are ultimately absent from the negotiations on a peace agreement, which are conducted only in a trilateral format between Washington, Kiev and Moscow.

At the same time, there are signals that US President Donald Trump wants to push the Ukrainians to make big concessions to the Russians in order to have a clean slate before the November congressional elections, in which he wants to maintain the Republican positions.

If Europe continues to stay away from any peace talks in Ukraine, it could end up being caught between Trump and Putin. The "Greenland shock" could thus be followed by another. Former NATO Deputy Secretary General Camille Grand therefore commented on Macron's efforts in Le Figaro succinctly: "When you are not at the table, you are on the menu." 

Miloš Balabán, Právo Daily