Emmanuel Macron fears verbal escalation after US President Joe Biden labels Russia’s Vladimir Putin ‘butcher’

France’s President Emmanuel Macron on
Sunday warned against a verbal “escalation” of Russia’s invasion in
Ukraine after US President Joe Biden labelled Vladimir Putin a
“butcher” who “cannot remain in power”.

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Macron will speak to Putin in the next
couple of days to organise the evacuation of civilians from the heavily
bombarded port city of Mariupol. The French leader told broadcaster France 3
that he saw his task as “achieving first a ceasefire and then the total
withdrawal of (Russian) troops by diplomatic means.”

“If we want to do that, we can’t
escalate either in words or actions.”

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine crisis: France announces joint evacuation mission in Mariupol

As Russia seized Mariupol, Ukraine was
making a desperate push to get civilians out of the city on Sunday, with an aid
route agreement for people to leave by cars or on evacuation buses, said Deputy
Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

So far, Ukraine’s effort to establish safe
routes for civilians to flee have collapsed as both sides trade blame for
violating temporary ceasefires.

Also Read: France’s Macron says he hopes to talk to Putin ‘in the coming hours’ over Mariupol

Mariupol, in the region of Donetsk, has
been a victim of the Russian bombing which destroyed residential buildings,
schools and hospitals. It resulted in the killing of more than a hundred
people.

About 170,000 people remain trapped in the
besieged city and authorities have said they fear some 300 civilians may have
died in a Russian strike on March 17 that hit a theatre being used as a bomb
shelter.

Also Read: Macron talks with US, UK, Germany, Italy to coordinate support to Ukraine

In an impassioned speech from the Royal
Castle in Warsaw, Biden blasted Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“For God’s sake, this man cannot
remain in power,” the US leader said, before the White House clarified
that Washington was not seeking regime change.

Russia hit back at the US, “a head of
state should stay sober”.

Personal attacks, said Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov, were “narrowing down the window of opportunity” for
bilateral relations.

Also Read: Vladimir Putin complains of Ukraine stalling talks in call with Olaf Scholz

“Biden is weak, sick and
unhappy,” said Vyacheslav Volodin, president of the lower house of
parliament.

Putin’s Russia invade Ukraine on February
24 and continues to destroy the country’s military and topple pro-Western
President Volodymyr Zelensky.