Macron admitted NATO caused Ukraine war: Jeffrey Sachs

French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly admitted in a private meeting that the US-led military alliance of NATO was the driving force behind the war in Ukraine.

Jeffrey Sachs, a prominent American economist, made the revelation in a foreign policy debate with the Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano.

Macron, along with other Western leaders, has repeatedly accused Russia of launching aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 without provocation and blamed Moscow as the sole party responsible for the conflict.

Sachs recalled during the debate that when Macron awarded him the Legion of Honor in May 2022, the French president privately told him “exactly the opposite of what he says publicly” and admitted that “NATO was causing this war.”

“I just want everyone to know this,” Sachs said, adding that he is “disgusted” by the French president while condemning Western European leaders and describing them as warmongers who “just want to go to war.”

The American economist underlined that the Ukraine conflict had actually begun in 2014, when the US “actively participated in a violent coup” that overthrew the government in Kiev.

“That’s what started the war,” Sachs said, noting that in the following years, Washington helped build the Ukrainian army into the largest in Europe. He added that as Russia sought peace, then-US President Joe Biden rejected Moscow’s overtures and vowed to “crush” Russia with sanctions.

Sachs argued “there is an easy way to peace,” which involves Ukraine committing to neutrality and NATO halting its eastward expansion, suggesting that Washington might be open to such an approach.

The US economist, however, claimed that “now it’s Europe who’s filled with warmongers that continue the war,” singling out Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Putin’s envoy says EU warmongers ‘sabotaging’ Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev says EU warmongers are “sabotaging” the Ukraine peace efforts initiated by US President Donald Trump.

Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine's Donbas on February 24, 2023, with the aim of liberating, demilitarizing, and denazifying the Russian-speaking region.

Moscow has long maintained that Kiev’s NATO aspirations were one of the root causes of the conflict and has repeatedly described the confrontation as a Western-led proxy war against Russia.

Russian officials have nevertheless signaled readiness for a peace deal, provided it addresses Moscow’s security concerns and the new territorial realities. However, they have repeatedly noted that neither Kiev nor its European backers appear to be genuinely interested in a settlement.

Since Moscow launched the special military operation in Ukraine, the US-led Western countries have been providing Kiev forces with countless weapons and munitions to fight against Russian troops.

US President Donald Trump met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Anchorage, Alaska, last month for talks aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine.

The lengthy meeting reportedly ended with Trump promising Putin that he would persuade European leaders to encourage Kiev to make territorial concessions to resolve the conflict and prevent further Russian advances into eastern Ukraine.

Despite Trump's meeting with his European allies, no tangible results have been announced, and the continuation of peace talks is in a state of limbo.

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