French President Emmanuel Macron's refusal on Wednesday April 13 to denounce a "
genocide
" in Ukraine by the Russian army is "
very hurtful
", lamented his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
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"
If true, such remarks are very hurtful for us
", declared Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with the Polish, Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian heads of state, visiting Kiev.
“
I will do my best to discuss this issue with Mr. Macron today.
If not, then tomorrow, when he finds the time
,” Volodymyr Zelensky added.
“
I am not sure that the escalation of words serves the cause
”
Earlier in the day, Emmanuel Macron had chosen not to use the term "
genocide
" used by his American counterpart Joe Biden to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of it in Ukraine.
” SEE ALSO – War in Ukraine: “I would be careful with the terms”, reacted Emmanuel Macron following the remarks of Joe Biden
"
I would say that Russia unilaterally started a brutal war, that it is now established that war crimes were committed by the Russian army and that now we must find those responsible
," said Emmanuel Macron at first.
"
It's madness what is happening, it's incredibly brutal (...) but at the same time I look at the facts and I want to try as much as possible to continue to be able to stop this war and to rebuild peace, so I'm not sure that the escalation of words serves the cause
," he continued.
The spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy, Oleg Nikolenko, reacted quickly to the Interfax-Ukraïna news agency, judging the position of
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden for the first time accused Vladimir Putin of carrying out a "
genocide
" in Ukraine, a word hitherto used by Volodymyr Zelensky but never by the US administration.
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke for the first time of a "
genocide
" in Ukraine.
Russia, for its part, defends itself by denouncing a "
staging
" and "
falsifications
" orchestrated by the Ukrainians and intended to harm it.