The French presidency welcomed Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s readiness for negotiations with Emmanuel Macron. They will decide on the specific conditions of the dialogue in the coming days.
On Sunday, the French presidential office welcomed Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s readiness for negotiations with the country’s head of state, Emmanuel Macron, TASR reports, according to an AFP report.
- France welcomed Putin’s willingness to negotiate with Macron.
- The conditions for the interview will be decided in the following days.
- The Elysee Palace positively perceives Putin’s readiness for dialogue.
- Macron supports direct negotiations with Putin for European interests.
- The last phone call between Macron and Putin was in July 2022.
Macron’s office added that the conditions under which such a conversation could take place would be determined in the coming days.
Readiness for dialogue
“It is welcome that the Kremlin has publicly agreed to this approach. In the coming days we will decide on the best way to proceed,” the Elysee Palace said, after a Kremlin spokesman said Putin had “expressed a willingness to dialogue” with the French president.
According to the spokesman, Putin “expressed readiness to engage in dialogue with Macron.” “Therefore, if there is mutual political will, it can only be evaluated positively,” stated Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Possibility of direct negotiations
France’s president said on Friday that Europe will have to negotiate directly with Putin if the latest US-led efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia fail. “I believe it is in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find a suitable framework to reopen this debate in the coming weeks,” Macron said.
In July, Macron spoke to Putin on the phone for the first time since 2022. In addition to the war in Ukraine, they also talked about developments in the Middle East and the Iran-Israel conflict. Peskov said at the time that Macron had requested this phone call. The presidents last spoke before in September 2022, more than half a year after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
