French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to follow his American counterpart's example by describing the Russian special operation in Ukraine as "genocide", calling instead for caution to be exercised when choosing how to talk about the existing situation.
"I would be discreet with terms today [...] Russians and Ukrainians are fraternal peoples. What is happening is madness, this is a return to war in Europe; but, at the same time, I am looking at the facts, I want to try as much as possible to stop this war and restore peace", Macron said.
The French president's comments come in the wake of remarks by POTUS Joe Biden, who called the Russian special operation in Ukraine a "genocide" during a speech on 12 April. He partially backtracked saying that lawyers should decide "whether or not it qualifies" as such, but went on to allege that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian".
Biden has already fired inflammatory rhetoric in Putin's direction, calling the Russian President a "war criminal" and even calling for him to be ousted (only to backtrakck on the last statement). No global body has so far agreed with Biden's assessment of the situation in Ukraine.
The Kremlin criticised Biden for indulging in emotive terms and used the opportunity to remind the US of actual war crimes committed by its forces which have been exhaustively documented by researchers and historians: from the illegal bombings of Yugoslavia, which Biden himself boasted of promoting during his days as a US senator, to nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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