YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that two long-time allies like France and the United States should treat each other with respect and that France was a U.S. ally but not a vassal state, after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked him on Twitter, Reuters reports.

In five posts sent on Tuesday after his visit to France, U.S. President Donald Trump blasted France over its near defeat to Germany in two world wars, its wine industry and Macron’s approval ratings.

“At every moment of our history, we were allies, so between allies, respect is due,” Macron said, citing French support for America’s war of independence and U.S. support during the two world wars.

“I don’t think the French expect me to respond to tweets but to continue this important history,” he told TF1 in an interview on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.

Trump was only playing to a domestic audience, he added.

“I think he’s playing politics, and I let him play politics.”

Asked about his suggestion to build a European army, which Trump criticized in tweets last week, Macron said:

“The United States is our historic ally and will continue to be. It’s the ally with which we take all the risks, with which we carry out the most complicated operations. But being an ally doesn’t mean being a vassal state,” Macron said.

“Look at the world that we live in, and you’ll see authoritarian powers that are becoming more and more active and re-equipping themselves – being located in bordering regions with Europe. We are being attacked in the cyberspace and they are interfering in our democratic life. We must protect ourselves from China, Russia and even the USA,” Macron had said earlier in November.

 Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan