Macon calls for better EU-Russia relations

French president Emmanuel Macron said the European Union needs to seek better relations with Russia in the long term.
Macron attended the Munich Security Conference, where he said that while he isn’t proposing lifting sanctions, they have changed nothing about Russia’s behavior. French companies have been pushing Macron to improve the EU’s relations with Russia and to ease economic sanctions.
Relations between both sides have been strained since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which led to The US and the EU imposing sanctions on Russia for its actions.
“We need in the long term to reengage with Russia but also emphasize its responsibility in its role” as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Macron said, adding that “it cannot constantly be a member that blocks advances by this council”.
He also said he expects Russia to continue playing a destabilizing role in matters such as other countries’ election campaigns: “I don’t believe in miracles, I believe in politics, in the fact that human will can change things when we give ourselves the means”, he said.
He stressed that Russia’s military buildup is financially unsustainable. According to Macron, an alliance with China would not be durable, because “Chinese hegemony is not compatible with the Russian sense of pride”. He concluded by underlining the need for a “European partnership”.