Emmanuel Macron: World Leaders Support a Global Truce to Fight Coronavirus
- There are a few reports that say Russia and USA are against the Global Truce/Ceasefire plan. Not sure which is correct. I believe Emmanuel (‘god’ with us) Macron and the United Nations are looking into the finer details to resolve Russian and American concerns in the final draft of the Peace/Truce/Ceasefire Treaty.
– - Emmanuel Macron: World Leaders Support a Global Truce to Fight Coronavirus
by TOM PARFITT, THE TIMES, via https://www.theaustralian.com.au/, 16 April 2020
International leaders are throwing their weight behind a proposal for a global ceasefire as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide passes the two million mark.
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President Emannuel Macron of France said US President Donald Trump, China’s President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had all confirmed to him that they backed the plea for a truce made by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Mr Macron said he was hopeful of securing the support of President Vladimir Putin, leader of the fifth permanent member country of the UN Security Council.
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“I spoke to him at the start of this initiative. I haven’t spoken to him since I got the firm confirmations of the other leaders. I will do in the next few hours,” Mr Macron told Radio France Internationale. “I think that for sure President Putin will agree and the day he says he does, we’ll be able to hold a joint video conference and relay this call in a solemn, forceful and efficient way.”
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The Kremlin said it was examining the proposal. “Obviously, work is under way,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “The diplomats are working. As soon as the work is completed and agreed with the partners, corresponding statements will be announced.”
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The initiative picked up speed as the global number of coronavirus cases continues to rise. In his plea on March 23, Mr Guterres said “the fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war” and “that is why today I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world: it is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus on the true fight of our lives.” He said “our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19”.
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“The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all relentlessly. Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world,” he said. The US joined the call for a worldwide halt to the fighting the next day. “The US hopes that all parties in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere will heed the call of Antonio Guterres,” the US National Security Council tweeted.
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British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab promised backing for the ceasefire earlier this month. Coronavirus was “the fight of our lives and we must unite against it”, he said. On Saturday, five UN envoys in the Middle East urged warring parties in the region to “work towards an immediate end to hostilities”.
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A European diplomatic source said a previous attempt to get a security council resolution had foundered: “This attempt, drafted by the French, has gotten a lot closer to being adopted and is expected to be, possibly this week.
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“Essentially, the Americans and Russians were uncomfortable with being bound by a global ceasefire, which might mean that they couldn’t take actions in Yemen, Libya, Syria or, for the US, in Afghanistan, for instance.”
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The draft had a better chance of passing because it welcomed efforts from the secretary-general and his appeal for an immediate global ceasefire, and it supported the work towards that ceasefire, but did not explicitly demand one.
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