US President Donald Trump's decision to temporarily suspend military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia is moving peace between the two countries further away, French Minister for Europe Affairs Benjamin Haddad said today on France 2 television, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
“If we want peace (between Kiev and Moscow), does the suspension of arms supplies bring peace closer or further away? It does, because it only strengthens the hand of the aggressor, which is Russia“, he said.
“We must never forget - in this war there is an aggressor, which is Russia, and Ukraine has been bravely defending itself for three years“, Haddad added. "If we want to end this war with our goal of achieving a lasting peace with solid security guarantees - yes, we must put pressure on the aggressor, which is Russia, not Ukraine, as we seem to have been seeing for several weeks," he added.
Hadad added that, amid the US's loss of interest in Kiev, "a moment of responsibility is coming for Europeans."
"On Thursday this week, we will hold a (European) Council meeting in Brussels, which will be historic and decisive," the French minister stressed.
This meeting "will allow us to announce financial measures to strengthen our European defense" and “of course, continue to support the Ukrainians, put them in the best possible position to negotiate and achieve lasting peace“, he added.
Yesterday, the US president ordered “to pause” US military aid to Ukraine after criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for being disrespectful and failing to thank the US government for its efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.