“Europe is a powerful economic entity, a powerful economic union and it is quite natural that it wants to be independent, self-sufficient and sovereign in matters of defense and security,” Putin explained.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week had called for a “true, European army”. Macron urged the European Union to boost military cooperation between member states while reaching out to Russia to develop a “strategic partnership”.
Macron, in an interview with a French radio station Europe1, said: “I want to build a real security dialogue with Russia, which is a country I respect, a European country — but we must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States.
“We will not be able to protect Europeans if we don’t decide to have a real European army,” he added.
President Trump was angered by Macron’s comments.
President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018
The French president has also suggested that European corporations and entities were too dependent on the US dollar: “This is an issue of sovereignty for me. So that’s why I want us to work very closely with our financial institutions, at the European levels and with all the partners, in order to build a capacity to be less dependent from the dollar,” he explained.
He said an alternative to the US currency was necessary for “the stability of the global order”.
In an address to French ambassadors last month, Macron criticised Trump for being an “unreliable” partner and “turning his back” on the “multilaterism” built by Western powers since World War II, citing the nuclear deal brokered with Iran by European powers.
“Europe can no longer rely on the United States for its security. It is up to us to guarantee European security, and therefore European sovereignty,” Macron told the 250 diplomats, lawmakers, and international relations analysts present.
Not only France, but Russia too appears to be worried by the US posture.
Shortly after US president Trump announced the US would pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a Russian diplomat confirmed that Moscow was preparing to defend itself.
Speaking at the UN recently, Andrey Belousov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, said that Russia was getting ready for war to defend its people against American aggression.
Russia doesn’t seek a confrontation, he said, unlike the US. “Why else would the United States pull out of the [INF] Treaty, increase their nuclear potential, adopt a new nuclear doctrine that lowers the threshold for nuclear weapons use – that’s the question for us all.”