Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone this Monday for about an hour and a half about the ongoing war in Ukraine. The two heads of state exchanged their views and demands to end the conflict.
Emmanuel Macron first reiterated the request of the entire international community to cease the operations of the Russian army in progress in Ukraine, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
During this phone call, the French president also asked his Russian counterpart “to stop all strikes and attacks against civilians and places of residence”, “to preserve all civilian infrastructure” and “to secure the axes roads, in particular the road south of Kiev”.
In a press release, the Élysée specifies that Vladimir Putin has “confirmed his desire to commit to these three points”.
Recognition of Crimea
However, the Russian president also had demands from the international community. At the end of this exchange, the Kremlin declared that Vladimir Putin had demanded the recognition of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, as Russian territory.
To consent to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, he also demanded “the completion of the demilitarization and denazification of the Ukrainian state and the guarantee of its neutral status”, that is to say, that Ukraine ensures that it does not join NATO, in order to maintain a “buffer zone” between the West and Russia, so that the latter retains its area of influence.
Vladimir Putin also indicated that the end of the war would only be possible “if Russia’s legitimate security interests were taken into account, unconditionally”.
This phone call between the two heads of state took place as the first day of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations has just ended on the border with Belarus.
These talks come on the fifth day of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian military faces stiff resistance from Ukrainians and Russia is under harsh economic sanctions imposed by Western countries.