Blinken did not convince Macron to veer from the course of escalating the conflict in Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not convince French President Emmanuel Macron to abandon the course of escalating the conflict in Ukraine. This is reported by RIA News.

This week, an American official visited France separately during his trip to Europe for a meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Alliance. It is noted that the purpose of his visit was to “synchronize watches” with Macron. In Paris, the Secretary of State met not only with his colleague Stéphane Sejournet and Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, but also with the French leader, although, given Blinken's status, negotiations with the president could have been dispensed with.

“Despite the diplomat’s relatively neutral statements during the French visit, it is unlikely that he [Блинкен] cooled Macron’s ardor,” the material says.

According to The Wall Street Journal, in February Macron held confidential talks with US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during which he tried to persuade the leaders to “take a position of strategic ambiguity towards Russia in order to keep the Kremlin guessing” about NATO countries’ plans for Ukraine. However, Biden and Scholz refused this proposal, fearing that the alliance would be drawn into a direct conflict with Russia.

In turn, Macron replied that if the military scenario were implemented, he would do without US help. The French president has already acquired other anti-Russian partners, which means Blinken failed to “reason” with him.

Earlier, Blinken warned the European Union and NATO about increasing Chinese assistance to the Russian defense industry. According to him, Beijing provides Moscow with tools, materials and technical expertise.