WASHINGTON DC – French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a stark warning that Russia’s recent drone incursions into NATO airspace were deliberate acts of aggression, not a mistake, and has called for new sanctions to bring Moscow back to the negotiating table.
Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation, Macron dismissed suggestions, reportedly made by US President Donald Trump, that the violations of Polish and Romanian airspace were accidental.
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“There is no mistake,” he said in an interview that aired on Sunday. “There is just a project which is to destroy the maximum territories of Ukraine… and just to highlight what they want, the weakness of NATO,” he added.
The comments follow an unprecedented incident in which NATO jets were scrambled twice within weeks to shoot down Russian drones.
While NATO has said it is still investigating the incursions, Macron’s statement suggests a hardening of attitudes among some European leaders.
He linked the drone incidents to an escalation of attacks on Kyiv, which have killed numerous civilians and destroyed government buildings.
Call for new sanctions
Macron’s remarks also underscored a growing divide with the Trump administration over how to respond to Russian provocations.
While the US president has reportedly hesitated to impose further sanctions, pointing to Europe’s continued consumption of Russian energy, Macron argued that this was a “marginal” issue.
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He claimed that Europe has already reduced its consumption of Russian oil and gas by over 80 percent and is “fixing” the remaining dependence.
“If it depends just on me, tomorrow [we would have new sanctions],” Macron said, calling for a “collective” European response.
“We all agree we want peace. We all agree the problem is Russia because they don’t want peace. So now we have to increase the pressure to convince Russia to come back at the table,” he said.
Frozen assets and international law
When asked about the possibility of seizing billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets held in European banks, a measure reportedly favored by the Trump administration, Macron was cautious.
He argued that while the proceeds from the assets could be used to finance aid to Ukraine, seizing them outright would violate international law.
“This is our problem everywhere,” he said, warning that a failure to respect international law could lead to “total chaos.”
Europe must step up its defense
Macron also defended Europe’s security independence, noting that France and the UK have already deployed fighter jets in response to the drone incursions.
He stressed the need for a “stronger European pillar” within NATO, a project he has championed for years.
“It’s fair that the US wants to focus much more on its own security, or wants to work much more on the Pacific side, and asks Europeans to be more engaged and committed for their own security,” he said.
The French president’s comments suggest that European leaders are prepared to take a more assertive role in their own defense and in confronting Russian aggression, even if it means diverging from the US approach.