Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have discussed the increasing tensions in Europe in Moscow. The conversations, which lasted several hours, lasted until late Monday evening.
Putin thanked Macron in the Kremlin for his commitment to European security. France has also been working for years to find a solution to the Ukraine conflict, he said. In his welcome speech, Macron said he hoped that the direct talks would be the start of a way to de-escalate the situation.
A common answer must be found in order to prevent a war in Europe. Macron is expected in the Ukrainian capital Kiev this Tuesday, where he will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He will then travel on to Germany to discuss how to proceed in the crisis with Chancellor Olaf Scholz after his return from a meeting with Joe Biden.
Putin and Macron were on first-name terms at their first meeting in more than two years. The contact was never broken, said Putin, who had had three crisis calls with Macron in the past few days.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
After the meeting, Putin and Macron wanted to inform about the conversation at a press conference. A breakthrough was not expected, as the Kremlin announced.
Macron warns against exaggerated expectations
France currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union. From the Élysée Palace it was said in advance that Macron’s visit to Russia would involve a uniform, coordinated announcement to Moscow with clearly defined consequences in the event of aggression. The USA and the EU want to impose severe economic sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The intensity of the dialogue that we have with Russia and this trip to Moscow are also suitable for preventing that,” Macron said in an interview. Regarding possible successes of his trip, he said: “You have to be very realistic. We will not reach unilateral gestures, but it is imperative to avoid worsening the situation.”
The aim of his trip is “to try to work out answers to the emergency and to move towards a new order that Europe urgently needs and which is based on the fundamental principle of equality and sovereignty of the states”.
Macron complained that there had been too little dialogue between the EU and Russia in the past. “Recent times have confirmed that you cannot settle a conflict if you choose not to talk to each other, as Europeans did last year when (ex-)Chancellor (Angela) Merkel and I had an EU -Russia Summit.”
There are international fears that Russia is planning an invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Kremlin denies such plans. It is also considered possible that the Russian side wants to stir up fears in order to persuade NATO to make concessions on demands for new security guarantees.
More: Putin and Macron agree on the need to calm down