Washington:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has invited his French counterpart to visit Ukraine to see for himself how Russian forces have committed “genocide,” a term President Emmanuel Macron has avoided.
“I spoke to him yesterday,” Zelensky told DailyExpertNews in an interview that was taped Friday but aired Sunday.
“I just told him that I want him to understand that this is not a war, but nothing but genocide. I have invited him to come whenever he gets the chance. He will come and see and I am sure he will understand .”
Zelensky also said he thought US President Joe Biden would come someday, although White House officials have said there are no plans to do so.
The Ukrainian leader said he believed Macron would shy away from using the term “genocide” – a term Biden has now used in reference to the war in Ukraine – because he believes it would hurt the chances of diplomatic relations with Russia.
The Ukrainian president previously said Macron’s refusal to use the designation was “extremely painful for us”.
Macron finds himself in the thick of an election campaign, with a second round of voting against far-right politician Marine Le Pen set for next Sunday.
He told France’s Radio Bleu on Thursday that it was not helping Ukraine “to engage in verbal escalations without drawing all the conclusions”.
“The word ‘genocide’ has a meaning” and “must be defined legally, not by politicians.”
Zelensky said in his DailyExpertNews interview that he would also like to see Biden visit Ukraine.
A growing list of European leaders has made their way to Kiev with statements of support, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After Johnson visited the ruined Ukrainian city of Bucha – where, according to officials, dozens of civilians were “simply shot in the street” – he said evidence of a massacre by Russian troops “doesn’t seem far from genocide to me.”
Regarding a possible visit from Biden, Zelensky said: “I think he will” come, “but of course it is his decision, and on the security situation it depends.”
“But I think he’s the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come here to see it.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised Biden’s support for his country so far in an interview broadcast on CBS on Sunday, saying a visit from the US leader would be “an important show of support”.
“A face-to-face meeting between two presidents could also pave the way for new supplies and of…US weapons to Ukraine and also for discussions about the possible political settlement of this conflict,” he added.
US officials say they are considering sending an envoy to Kiev, but are currently ruling out a risky visit from the 79-year-old president himself.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)