France President Emmanuel Macron tried to correct US President Donald Trump about the nature of Europe’s support to Ukraine during oval lounge negotiations on Monday, interrupting the American while he was talking to observe that he was distorting the facts.
The moment stressed the tense dynamic of negotiations around the war. Although Trump and Macron seemed friendly and willing to get involved in the future of Ukraine, the conversations occurred in the background of Trump’s sometimes false statements about the war effort.
“Just for you to understand, Europe is lending money to Ukraine. They will receive their money back, ”Trump began as he prepared to defend a new agreement that would guarantee Ukraine mineral revenues as a retroactive payment for American assistance.
Macron reached out to grab Trump’s arm to interrupt.
“No, in fact, to be frank, we pay. We paid 60% of the total effort. It was like the US: loans, guarantees, subsidies, ”he said. “We have $ 230 billion in frozen actives in Europe, Russian actives. But this is no guarantee of a loan because it is not ours. So they are frozen. ”
Trump seemed to ignore the interjection: “If you believe it, it’s okay to me. They recover the money, and we don’t. But now we recover. ”
