Days before his upcoming presidential visit to Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a "strategic plan" to deal with the countries of the African continent.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced, on Monday, a new strategic plan for his country's dealings with the African continent, ahead of a presidential tour to four central African countries that begins next Wednesday.
In a speech at the Elysee Palace in the capital, Paris, Macron referred to "the need to build a new, balanced and responsible relationship with the countries of the African continent," according to official French media.
Macron called for "humility and responsibility," rejecting "the strategic competition imposed by those who settle there with their armies and mercenaries," in reference to the Russian "Wagner" forces.
He added, "Many people want to push us into competition, which I consider a historical paradox for some to arrive here and there with their armies and mercenaries," he said.
On the military level, Macron made it clear that France plans to "significantly reduce" its military presence in Africa.
He said: "The change will happen in the coming months, with a significant decrease in our numbers and an increase in the presence of our African partners in those" military bases.
Macron stated that "France will end hosting regular military bases in Africa and will instead establish academies co-managed by the French and African armies," according to the website.
He pointed out that France will make "more efforts in providing training and equipment."
On the first of next March, the French President will embark on a tour that includes four countries in Central Africa, namely Gabon, Angola, the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
During his first stop in Libreville, Macron will participate in a summit on preserving the forests of the Congo River Basin, according to the site.
The Kremlin: We are ready to negotiate to end the war, but we will not give up areas we annexed
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow's readiness to enter into negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. He noted that the four Ukrainian regions that Russia annexed last year would not be abandoned.
The Kremlin on Tuesday reiterated its position that Russia is ready to enter into negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, but the new "reality" on the ground cannot be ignored.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would never give up four Ukrainian regions that Moscow announced its annexation last year, following referendums that Kiev and Western countries have criticized as sham and have no legal basis.
"There is a certain reality that has already become an internal factor. I mean the new territories. The constitution of the Russian Federation exists, and it cannot be ignored. Russia can never give up on this, these are important facts," Peskov said on Tuesday.
Russia announced the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in September in a huge ceremony in Moscow.
After that, the regions were declared regions included in the composition of the territory of the Russian Federation, in a constitutional decree.
Peskov said that Russia is ready for negotiations if Kiev accepts Moscow's control over these areas.
"If things go well and the Ukrainians take the appropriate position, this can be settled at the negotiating table. But the main thing is to achieve our goals," he added.
None of the four regions is fully controlled by Russian forces, and Moscow says it is fighting to "liberate" them from Ukrainian neo-Nazi control.
Kiev and Western countries say this is a groundless pretext to seize land without legal basis.
Ukraine requires discussing a peace plan that Russian forces leave every inch of its territory, including the four annexed regions and Crimea, which Moscow unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.