Macron calls Putin ‘predator’ and ‘ogre at our gates’

Emmanuel Macron takes part in a video meeting of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ to discuss the next steps for Ukraine at Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France, Aug. 19, 2025. (AFP)
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  • Emmanuel Macron: Putin, ‘including for his own survival, needs to keep eating. That means he is a predator, an ogre at our gates’
  • Macron: This did not mean that France would ‘come under attack tomorrow, but of course this is a threat to Europe (...) let’s not be naive’

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday warned European allies not to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin whom he called “an ogre at our gates.”
Macron’s remarks came as Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky looked set for a peace summit after fast-moving talks Monday between Donald Trump and European leaders that focused on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Kyiv.
“Putin has rarely honored his commitments,” Macron told the LCI broadcaster. “He has constantly been a force for destabilization. He has sought to redraw borders to increase his power.”
Macron said he did not believe that Russia would “return to peace and a democratic system from one day to the next.”
Putin, “including for his own survival, needs to keep eating,” Macron said. “That means he is a predator, an ogre at our gates.”
This did not mean that France would “come under attack tomorrow,” Macron said, “but of course this is a threat to Europe (...) let’s not be naive.”