On the phone and for more than an hour, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin agreed on Friday on the “need for de-escalation” and “continued dialogue” in the Ukrainian crisis. The “dialogue is difficult” but the “channels of discussion are open”. The French president must also meet Friday at the end of the afternoon with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
French Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Friday on the “need for de-escalation” and “continuation of dialogue” in the Ukrainian crisis, the French presidency announced.
A discussion of more than an hour
The telephone conversation between the two leaders, which lasted more than an hour, “made it possible to agree on the need for de-escalation”, declared the Élysée. “President Putin did not express any offensive intention (…). He made it very clear that he was not looking for confrontation”. On strategic security in Europe, the two Heads of State “agreed on the continuation of the dialogue which will require the Europeans (…) to be fully involved in this dialogue”, which involves in the first place the United States and NATO.
On the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been opposing Kiev since 2014, President Putin himself insisted on the existing format of talks (known as Normandy) which brings together Russia, Ukraine, the Germany and France and aims to implement the 2015 Minsk peace accords, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
“Dialogue is difficult”
“He also wanted to continue with the president (Macron) the discussion started today,” added the Elysée. The “dialogue is difficult” but the “channels of discussion are open”. The French president must also meet Friday at the end of the afternoon with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. “He will tell him this evening of our commitment to the sovereignty of Ukraine, our solidarity in this period of tension and our commitment to continue negotiations to find a way to implement the Minsk agreements”, added the French presidency.