Russia-Ukraine war: French President Macron refuses to describe civilian killings as ‘genocide’

Differing from ally US President Joe Biden, French President Emanuel Macron has refused to term the Russian actions in Ukraine as "genocide" during an interview with public broadcaster France 2.

According to CNN, when asked if would use the term "genocide" for describing the killings of Ukrainians, Macron said, “I would be careful with such terms today because these two peoples [Russians and Ukrainians] are brothers.”

The comments are likely to cause consternation in the US administration, as most of the western allies have been acting in tandem to decry the Russian attack on Ukraine.

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The French president, who is running for re-election, wondered if such an escalation of “rhetoric” could help in ending the war.

“I want to continue to try, as much as I can, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause,” he said.

“What we can say for sure is that the situation is unacceptable and that these are war crimes. We are living through war crimes that are unprecedented on our soil — our European soil,” he added.

The comments come days after Biden, while reacting to the Bucha killings and other civilian killings, said that atrocities being uncovered in Ukraine qualify as genocide, saying "It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian."

Even though such actions don’t entail any legal or economic ramifications, the wording chosen by the Biden was to rally its allies in isolating and punishing Kremlin.

Moscow had severely criticised Biden for accusing Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine, dubbing it "unacceptable".

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"We categorically disagree and consider unacceptable any attempt to distort the situation in this way, especially since it is hardly acceptable for the president of the United States," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Watch |Gravitas: Ukraine accuses Russia of genocide in Bucha

(With inputs from agencies)