Opinion | Why France is the dark-horse competitor to the US in Asia

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, most Western analysts argued that the Kremlin had suddenly united the West and given it a sense of purpose. But one major country has stood out for defying that trend in subtle but certain ways: France.

Even before the Ukraine invasion, French President Emmanuel Macron was determined to champion an independent European foreign policy. In 2017, soon after taking office, Macron gave a speech where he made the case for “European sovereignty”. Part of his appeal for sovereignty was in terms of reducing Europe’s dependence on the United States during the age of president Donald Trump.

The advent of US President Joe Biden didn’t really shift this approach much. When Washington began warning Europe of an impending Russian invasion late last year, Macron positioned himself as Europe’s envoy to Putin, under the rationale that Russia needs to be dealt with carefully for Europe’s own security.

Yet, by doing so, Macron sometimes undermined American intelligence warnings. After a marathon meeting with Putin in early February, Macron declared that he had “secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation”, even as Washington kept ringing the alarm bells.

More recently, Macron has got into a tiff with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by refusing to call Russia’s actions a “genocide”. And, unlike its Nato partners, France has largely kept its arms supply to Ukraine a secret.