PARIS, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of his Monday and Tuesday tour of Moscow and Kiev where he plans to promote a “de-escalation” in the Ukrainian crisis.
The French president, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, is due to meet Monday in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose intentions with regard to Ukraine are worrying.
Emmanuel Macron discussed with Jens Stoltenberg “the need to continue working to find, through dialogue, a path of de-escalation, in unity, full respect for the fundamental principles of European security, the sovereignty of States and the rights that derive therefrom. “, wrote the Elyse in a press release.
“The Secretary General of NATO welcomed this approach and thanked the President of the Republic for the close coordination carried out with the allies ahead of his trip to Moscow and Kiev,” it added.
With Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron “stressed the need to maintain the dialogue with a view to de-escalation”, said the French presidency.
On Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Ukrainian capital to meet his counterpart Volodimir Zelenski.
It is also Tuesday that Berlin should hold a meeting between the leaders of Germany, France and Poland, said Reuters a representative of the Polish presidency, Pawel Szrot, confirming information from the Sddeutsche Zeitung. (Report Elizabeth Pineau, with Anna Koper Warsaw)