French President: NATO’s “weak” guarantees to Ukraine, Georgia led to Russian “vindictiveness”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said “far too weak” perspectives of membership, offered by NATO to Ukraine and Georgia without efficient security guarantees, had exposed the two countries to Russian “vindictiveness” in the Kremlin’s military action against them over the years.

Speaking at the Global Security Forum’s annual conference in Bratislava, Macron noted that over the last 15 years Russia had attempted to “shake up the entire structure” of European security and reshape it according to its terms.

“The stages are known: Putin’s speech in Munich in 2007, the aggression against Georgia in 2008, against Ukraine in 2014, against Ukraine again in 2022 and the creeping vassalisation of Belarus”, Macron told the conference.

It must be acknowledged that we were unable to provide a European response or organise an architecture that would protect us through the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe or the other projects envisaged at the time against these attacks”, he said.

“As for NATO's response, it was basically too much or too little. A prospect offered to Ukraine and Georgia without protecting them and with [security] guarantees that were far too weak exposed these two countries to Russian vindictiveness”, the French official noted.