MFA disappointed with Macron's unwillingness to recognize Russian troops’ actions as genocide of Ukrainians

"The unwillingness of President of France Emmanuel Macron to recognize the genocide of Ukrainians after all the outspoken statements by the Russian leadership and the criminal actions of Russian troops is disappointing," MFA Spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko told Ukrinform in a commentary.

As noted, Ukraine and Russia are historically close for objective reasons, but the myth of the two fraternal peoples of Russia and Ukraine began to crumble after the occupation of Crimea and the aggression in Donbas in 2014.

"Then the Russian ‘brothers’ allegedly came to protect the Russian-speaking population but killed 14,000 Ukrainians for eight years," Nikolenko stressed.

According to him, this myth was finally shattered when the first Russian missiles flew into Ukrainian cities in February.

"‘Fraternal’ people do not kill children, do not shoot civilians, do not rape women, do not mutilate the elderly, and do not destroy the homes of other ‘fraternal’ people. Even the fiercest enemies do not commit atrocities against defenseless people. At present, there are no moral or real grounds to talk about ‘fraternal ties’ between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples," Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said.

Earlier, in an interview with France 2, Macron refused to call Russia's actions in the war against Ukraine "genocide" and said that Russians and Ukrainians were "brothers".

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