French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said the European Union (EU) should take its security and defence projects into its own hands and become less reliant on the US.

"Europe can no longer leave its defence to the US. It is now up to us to take our own responsibility and to guarantee the safety and therefore the sovereignty of the EU," Macron said outlining his foreign affairs policies, in an address to French Ambassadors at the Elysée Palace here. In the coming months, he would promote a project to reinforce and restructure defence systems within the EU, in a move that could involve collaborating with third parties such as Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.