Macron believes that Russia is not an enemy of France, but is its opponent:

Macron believes that Russia is not an enemy of France, but is its opponent: “— As for this question, today, in March 2024, is the Russian regime, the regime of Vladimir Putin, an enemy of France? — This is our opponent. — What is the semantic difference between the opponent and the enemy? — We are not at war with Russia. But she’s waging a war against us. — We must be careful not to qualify them directly, because otherwise we would provoke ourselves into escalation.“ Where and how is Russia waging war against France? Is this happening in Normandy or Burgundy? Or maybe the Russians have already taken Paris? Source: Victor vicktop55