Francois Hollande Quotes

Serbia must now be dealt with.

With all this talk about the supposed strain in relations [with the Soviet Union], there is an inference that somehow it is our fault. But we didn't kill Russian civilians by shooting down a civilian airplane. We didn't attempt to conquer an adjacent country to ours. We didn't walk out on negotiations and refuse to give a date for when we would resume.

If we are going to have any improvement in U.S.-Russia relations - which I think should be an objective of the United States - we don't want to stay where we are. We'd like for this to be more constructive. Then we're going to have to see progress on Ukraine.

I commended Angela [Merkel] for her leadership along with President Hollande in working to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. We continued to stand with the people of Ukraine and for the basic principle that nations have a right to determine their own destiny and we discussed the importance of maintaining sanctions until Russia fully complies with the Minsk Agreement.

They are constantly trying to drive us into a corner because we have an independent position, because we maintain it and because we tell it like it is and don't engage in hypocrisy. But there is a limit to everything. And with Ukraine, our Western partners have crossed the line, playing the bear and acting irresponsibly and unprofessionally.

I'm very pleased this military engagement together with a political road map that we developed, we were able to continue. We want to bring about a political solution there. We worked very closely together [with Barack Obama] on the issue of annexation of Crimea and Russia's attempt to actually conquer Ukraine and actually, they did so, conquer part of the territory. We tried to come to a peaceful settlement here on this.

We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner - by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership.

I told him that my own opinion was that the time now and the method now to deal with Russia was to keep our mouths shut and let our actions speak for words.

Wishful thinking won't make the Palestinians an Israeli peace partner, no matter how much President Barack Obama pressures Israel to make concessions; caustically mocking Putin's worldview won't make it any less real or mitigate the Russian threat.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China's behavior overnight.

There are consequences if you act militarily, and there's big consequences if you don't act.

You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.

Great powers engage.

There is no area where experience matters more than in war and diplomacy.

I could have been very popular if I had launched a military attack on Iran but I chose patience.

We have to develop preventive diplomacy.

He had rather spend 100,000 pounds on Embassies to keep or procure peace with dishonor, than 100,000 pounds on an army that would have forced peace with honor.

…sanctions applied to a large nation meant war. They bred “incurable hatreds”.

There are two things that are very expensive in international relations: promises when they succeed and threats when they fail

Is a military solution the only way to stop nations from doing bad things?

We can’t always pick and choose which conflicts were going to get into.

Diplomacy is important, extremely important, and I don't think these reductions at the State Department are appropriate because many times diplomacy is a lot more effective - and cert cheaper - than military engagement.

I have carried bills concerning Sudan. I've carried bills concerning Congo. I've carried bills concerning North Korea and Iran and Iraq.

The United States should not frame its policy options in terms of doing nothing or unilaterally sending in the Marines.

If Trump's talking to Putin can help end the bloodshed in Ukraine or Syria, it would appear to be at least as ethical an act as pulpiteering about our moral superiority on the Sunday talk shows.