French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump after their clash at the White House, his office said. In interviews with French media, Macron called for "calm" between the two leaders, but also for dialogue on a possible European nuclear "shield" as the continent can no longer rely on the United States.  In the interviews, he said everyone must "return to calm, respect... so that we can move forward... because what is at stake is too important."

Friday's (28.02) row, in which Zelensky was ordered to leave the White House, has raised concerns in Europe about the US commitment to Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion.
Macron said any "disengagement" of the US in Ukraine "is not in its interest" as forcing Kiev to "sign a ceasefire without security guarantees" would result in its "ability to deter Russia, China and others evaporating on the same day".

Asked whether he would hold a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he did in the first days of the war, Macron said he "did not rule it out" but would only do so "at the right moment".
The French president warned that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, "he will undoubtedly turn his attention to Moldova and perhaps further to Romania."
Macron's media blitz came on the eve of the Ukraine war meeting in London, where Zelensky met with European allies considering how to respond to Trump's apparent rapprochement with the Kremlin.

Macron suggested a strategic dialogue with European states that do not have nuclear weapons.
France and Britain are the only European states with nuclear arsenals.
"We have a shield, they don't. And they can no longer rely on the American nuclear deterrent. We need a strategic dialogue with those who don't have it, and that will make France stronger," Macron said.He said building an autonomous European defence independent of NATO would take between five and ten years.

He also warned that if the United States made a deal with Russia "without the Europeans at the table ... it would be a rupture in the alliance."

"We are for peace, but not for capitulation that takes place amid defeat or abandonment of the Ukrainians," he insisted. |BГNES