Macron: “Take a deep breath. Don’t retaliate”

The world is experiencing a “change towards a world without rules, in which international law is trampled on and in which the only law that seems to count is that of the strongest,” said Macron. So-called “imperial ambitions” returned. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Europe of retaliatory measures.

“I tell everyone: Sit back. Take a deep breath. Don’t retaliate,” he said in Davos. He calls on Europeans to adopt an “open attitude”. US President Donald Trump is expected in Davos on Wednesday and will “convey his message”.

No G7 meeting in Paris

Macron has abandoned his plan for a G7 meeting with Russia on Thursday in Paris. “There is no meeting planned,” Macron told the AFP news agency in Davos on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump had previously published a personal message from Macron in which Macron had suggested such a meeting including dinner in Paris. The authenticity of the message was confirmed in Macron’s environment.

Macron had therefore suggested inviting representatives from Russia, Denmark and Syria to Paris. The dinner with Trump would have coincided with the special EU summit planned in Brussels.

Macron struck a friendly tone in his message and addressed the US President as “my friend”. “I don’t understand what you are doing in Greenland,” wrote Macron, who then called on Trump to do “great things” with him.