The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, believes that Russia's President Vladimir Putin's feeling of being insulted by the whole world has grown into paranoia that prompted him to start the war against Ukraine.
Bloomberg reports he said this in an interview with Le Point.
Macron said that after the sanctions implemented in 2014, Putin found himself in international isolation, which strengthened his decision to start a war.
Besides, according to Macron, the Covid-19 pandemic has increased Putin's sense of isolation.
"The role of COVID-19 also should not be underestimated. He (ed. Putin) was ‘self isolated’ in Sochi for months, locked ... He communicated less with other heads of state," the President of France added.
At the same time, Macron noted that Putin "respects France." However, according to him, the head of the Kremlin believes his primary complaint is about the United States. This is the same thing Russians have been believing for decades.
The President of France also explained his numerous telephone conversations with Putin.
"If he doesn't talk to anyone anymore, we don't know how far he can go ... When you enter a cycle of violence, the hardest thing is to stop. The turning point on the road to the irreversible is dangerous," Macron said.
Earlier, LB.ua published a summary of a high-profile article in The Wall Street Journal about how the US and the EU tried but failed to hold Russia.