Macron Wants a 'European Approach' to Dialogue with Putin 0 7

Last week, Macron sent his advisor to Moscow. This was the first meeting of its kind since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine again.

"What did I get? Confirmation that Russia does not want peace right now," Macron said in an interview with several European publications. "But above all, we restored these channels of communication at a technical level," he added.

"I want to share this with my European partners and achieve a well-organized European approach," the French leader explained. In his opinion, dialogue with Putin should be conducted without "too many negotiators."

Last year, Macron expressed the view that Europe should resume contacts with Putin rather than leave the United States with all the initiative in negotiations to end the war started by Russia against Ukraine.

"Whether we like it or not, Russia will still be there tomorrow. Therefore, it is important that we structure the resumption of European dialogue with the Russians — without naivety, without pressuring the Ukrainians, but also in such a way that in this dialogue we are not dependent on third parties," Macron was quoted by the German Süddeutsche Zeitung.

After Macron's advisor Emmanuel Bonne visited Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday that Putin is ready to talk to Macron by phone. "If you want to call and discuss something seriously — call," Lavrov said.

Macron and Putin last spoke in July — this was their first known phone conversation in more than two and a half years.

In 2022, Macron tried in several phone conversations to convince Putin not to invade Ukraine and visited Moscow earlier that year. After the invasion, he continued phone contacts with Putin, but negotiations were interrupted in the fall of 2022.