French President Emmanuel Macron, facing elections at home, and hoping to emerge as a peacemaker in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on Wednesday said that  he was opposed to usage of words that would drive a permanent wedge between the Russians and Ukrainians.

For the first time on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden  called Russia's actions in Ukraine as "genocide" for the first time. The President of France, a country that prides itself for having an independent foreign policy stoutly objected. "I would be discreet with terms today… Russians and Ukrainians are fraternal peoples. What is happening is madness, this is a return to war in Europe; but, at the same time, I am looking at the facts, I want to try as much as possible to stop this war and restore peace," Macron told the France 2 broadcaster when asked whether he would regard the events in Ukraine and, in particular, in Mariupol as "genocide."

Mariupol, a port in the Donbass region is critical to Russia’s strategic goal of bringing a corridor under control that would guarantee Moscow’s access to the Black Sea. The Russian say that neo-Nazi groups have concentrated in the area—a situation that is unacceptable to Moscow because of its historic enmity with the Nazi groups.

The Azov Regiment—a unit that is part of the National Guard of Ukraine, is based in Mariupol.  All its members are contract combatants, drawn from 22 countries. These "volunteer battalions" have been engaged with much of the fighting against pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

Keen to play a mediation role, the French President also declared that he planned to dialogue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and, maybe, with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well in the coming days.

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