French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the EU should consider re-establishing contact with Moscow, which was suspended following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, and negotiate a new security framework with Russia, noting the bloc’s reluctance for “endless” armament.
Macron emphasized that while remaining dedicated to strengthening military capabilities within NATO, European members do not wish to arm themselves “endlessly” and should soon negotiate a new security arrangement with Moscow.
Macron said, “We are not going to go towards an endless escalation, towards more armament. We must arm ourselves because today there is a gap between our level of armament and that of Russia. And that poses a threat.”
He added, “At the same time, we must think about the security framework in which we want to live tomorrow,” and suggested, “That’s why we need to rethink [the security architecture] in the territories from the Black Sea to the Arctic, to determine how far we are willing to go to defend ourselves and what would be the terms of the discussion with Russia to make it possible to limit military capabilities and restore trust.”
Macron advised that member states should begin considering restoring dialogue with Russia “right now” to facilitate broader European security negotiations as part of a potential peace agreement for Ukraine.
Macron’s comments were made at the NATO summit in The Hague, where members discussed increasing defense spending to 5% of their GDP annually by 2035 to counter the perceived “long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.” He noted that the increased spending was both Washington’s desire and a “European necessity” for greater military independence.
Moscow has denied any intention of attacking NATO members, dismissing such claims as “nonsense” and scare tactics used by Western officials to justify increased military spending. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, when questioned about the basis for warnings of a Russian threat, offered general fears instead of specific intelligence assessments.
Earlier in the week, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused NATO of “fueling global militarization and an arms race” by fabricating “horror stories” to extract funds from member states’ citizens.