French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday denounced protesters against him as chaos-seekers, as the growing demonstrations first triggered by planned fuel price hikes turned violent.
"I will never accept violence," Macron told a news conference at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires amid the massive "yellow vest" demonstrations.
"No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc du Triomphe is defiled," he said.
Macron has tried to focus in Buenos Aires on global affairs, seeking to lead like-minded countries in taking action on challenges such as climate change in the face of resistance from US President Donald Trump.
But he was repeatedly forced to address the crisis at home, even if he took pains not to say "yellow vests" — the emergency jackets that have become the emblems of the movement initially sparked by Macron's push for a low-carbon economy.
