Putin's visit to France to meet Macron: Will the "bottlenecks" be resolved?

For the first time, the heads of state of the two countries will hold a meeting here to discuss bilateral relations and other important international issues.

French President Emmanuel Macron has invited President Vladimir Putin to his summer residence in a resort in southern France. Today, August 19th, the Russian and French presidents will hold their first meeting there.

In addition to the expanded meeting between the two sides, Putin and Macron will hold a private meeting with an agenda to discuss bilateral relations, cooperation between Russia and the European Union (EU), the situation in Ukraine, and Syria.Libya, Iran.

Notably, the high-level bilateral meeting between Macron and Putin will take place just before the G7 Summit. This is seen as a choice carrying significant messages from France, especially since France is one of the G7 countries that supports the idea of ​​gradually bringing Russia back into the group after Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014.

In bilateral cooperation, expanding political dialogue is a pressing need for both sides. Aside from regular contacts between Putin and Macron, other formats of meetings remain quite limited, especially after the events in Ukraine in 2014. This is a major obstacle to the development of relations between the two countries.

In relations with the EU, new factors are also emerging. This year, the EU will see significant personnel changes in the European Council and the European Commission.

Over the past period, President Macron's active participation, as well as France's constructive role, has contributed to the full restoration of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe.

France, as one of the EU's leaders, can facilitate EU dialogue with Moscow, especially since Russia has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resume political dialogue with the Union.

Personnel changes have also taken place in Ukraine with Vladimir Zelensky becoming president. Under the Normandy format, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany have not met since October 2016. Therefore, this meeting between the Russian and French heads of state is expected to yield concrete steps to resume negotiations in this format.

In addition, the issue of Iran's nuclear program continues to heat up after the US withdrawal from the agreement and Iran restarted its nuclear program, as does the Syrian crisis, which are also issues of concern to both sides.

Although these are old topics, finding solutions to these problems has long been difficult. However, opportunities are not absent, as doors are opening at Bregancon Palace – the venue for the meeting between Putin and Macron.

Experts believe that the meeting will help to resolve some of the bottlenecks and may create positive progress in bilateral relations, as well as address current pressing international issues.

Van Thuong