Macron speaks to Trump and Zelensky after heated White House meeting

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has called for calm and respect after a heated clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, warning that Europe can no longer rely on the United States for its security.

Macron called for "calm" between the two leaders in interviews with French media but also for a dialogue on a possible European nuclear "shield", as the continent could no longer rely on the United States.

In the interviews, he said everyone should "return to calm, respect... so we can move forward... because what is at stake is too important".

Friday’s row, which saw Zelensky ordered out of the White House, has raised fears in Europe over the US commitment to Ukraine’s struggle against Russia’s invasion.

Macron said any US "disengagement" in Ukraine was "not in its interests", as forcing Kyiv to "sign a ceasefire without security guarantees" would mean "its capacity to deter Russia, China and others would evaporate the same day".

On whether he would speak with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, as he did in the early days of the war, Macron replied that he would "not rule it out" but would only do so "at the opportune moment".

The French president warned that if Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, "he would no doubt turn his attention to Moldova and perhaps beyond to Romania".

Macron’s media blitz came on the eve of a meeting on the Ukraine war in London, bringing together Zelensky with European allies who are considering how to respond to Trump’s apparent rapprochement with the Kremlin.

Macron proposed a strategic dialogue with European countries that do not have nuclear weapons.

France and Britain are the only European countries with a nuclear arsenal.

"We have a shield, they don’t. And they can no longer depend on the American nuclear deterrent. We need a strategic dialogue with those who don’t have it, and that would make France stronger," Macron told Le Parisien newspaper.

He told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper it would take between five and ten years to build up an autonomous European defence independent of NATO.

He also warned that if the United States were to conclude an agreement with Russia "without the Europeans around the table... it would be a rupture within the alliance".

"We are in favour of peace," he insisted, "but not of a capitulation that takes place against the backdrop of a rout or abandonment of the Ukrainians."