Interesting Strategy

[Old_Geezer]

... by Macron. First he tries to cosy up to Putin, until that fell through. Now news of courting Xi. What is it with him and tyrants ?

[Old_Geezer]

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[douglas9401]

I think it's the smart suits

 

[Old_Geezer]

Probably made cheaply by forced labour.

[andy-hughes]

Money and power.

Tyrants tend to have plenty of both, and Macron probably hopes some of both will filter down in his direction.

[ToraToraTora]

He's French, they are the world's experts in collaboration. You may as well ask why a seal hunts fish.

[ichkeria]

Macron is doing the right thing. Xi represents a regime we all find repugnant but China is not the pariah of the civilised world Russia now is. 

[Peter Pedant]

I think they call it "politique"

[ichkeria]

Exactly.

The French did send a representative to the child abductor's swearing in in Moscow today though, so minus marks there.

 

[jno]

he's playing off one country against the other; the West did the same through much of the Cold War.

[Ellipsis]

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ... Cameron and Osborne also cosied up to China, and we now have Chinese tech inside our security infrastructure.

[Old_Geezer]

That won't work, both know what is disputed and what the other is up to as they are playing much the same game. It simply makes France look bad.

[jno]

they always have, OG, but it won't stop either of them from trying to seek an edge over the other; that's Realpolitik

[tomus42]

Perhaps he tried to do his best to stop Putin starting a war, (was never going to work) and when that failed, he's doing his best to persuade xi to stop supporting Putin's war effort.

Tell you what, I'll make a stupid 2 minute YouTube video saying the same thing. More chance you'll pay attention and believe it.

[Old_Geezer]

He was cosying up when the invasion had already started, so I'm unconvinced. No other western nation seemed convinced either since no one joined him. Likewise he has zero chance of swaying China, time and again we note the CCP claims one thing but does another.

 

I'm all for pragmatism but it needs to be appropriate and I'm unsure it explains this Russian, Chinese, French trio of negotiations of late. More of a pair of tyrants supporting each other while trying to get the upper hand (China likely to be more successful given that Russia is concentrating on invasion) and France running around being patronised by the other two looking down on him and his behaviour.

[tomus42]

//He was cosying up when the invasion had already started, so I'm unconvinced. //

What are you on about 'cosying up'?

Honestly, grow up. The worst you can say is that he was attempting to appease the dictator Putin. As we all know, appeasement never works, but nothing was lost by at least attempting it.

Macron is now the only one not ruling out French troops on the ground in Ukraine if needed.

[Old_Geezer]

Insults are all you have ?

[tomus42]

//Insults are all you have ?//

No, the insult took only three words. The other things I have are the rest of the post plus the previous one, plus the rest of this one.

I just think you're letting your prejudice against all things EU related, distort your view of what seems genuine attempts to mitigate Putins war through diplomacy. Ultimately it must be stopped through force, but diplomatic efforts can only help.

[Old_Geezer]

Then you are mistaken and we can disagree. The subject was about Macron's activity and how he rumbles around like a loose cannon in direct contrast to the more reasonable position taken by allies.

[10ClarionSt]

He'll be inviting Kim Jong George next, from the Workers Party of Rochdale.

[ichkeria]

"Macron is now the only one not ruling out French troops on the ground in Ukraine if needed."

Actually, he isn't