French President Macron does not give up efforts to continue dialogue with Russian President Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on the evening of April 18 that he would continue to maintain the possibility of resuming dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve issues related to the war in Ukraine, despite criticism and pressure from many European allies.
Commenting on the current developments related to the war in Ukraine while appearing on the live election program on France 5 television channel on the evening of April 18, French President Emmanuel Macron said that despite facing much criticism from European allies as well as from the Ukrainian government, he will not give up on the possibility of resuming direct dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future.
According to Mr. Macron, this choice stems from the fact that all sides must prepare for post-war scenarios and this will not be possible without dialogue with Russia. The French President also defended his long-standing position that, no matter how difficult the relations between Europe and Russia are, Europe cannot ignore the obvious historical and geographical reality that Russia is part of Europe.
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| French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: L'Express |
French President Macron said: “My dialogue with the Russian leadership has been less frequent, partly due to the election campaign in France, partly because the war in Ukraine has taken new turns. But I will not give up on resuming direct dialogue with Russia. There are two reasons, the first of which is to always be prepared for what comes after the war, which is peace, and this cannot be done without dialogue with Russia. I think that is also the task of Europe and France, as a capable power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.”
In addition to affirming that he will continue to maintain the possibility of dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron also mentioned the possibility of visiting the Ukrainian capital Kiev in the near future if he is re-elected as French President after the election on April 24. However, Mr. Macron affirmed that he will only visit Kiev if that trip brings a specific result to help resolve the war, and will not visit Kiev just to show symbolic support for Ukraine. Mr. Macron also said that he has had more than 40 phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi since the war broke out in this country on February 24.
In recent weeks, there have been signs of major discord within the EU over its approach to the war in Ukraine. Some EU allies such as Italy, and especially Poland and the three Baltic states, have repeatedly criticized the leaders of France and Germany for being too soft on Russia.These countries also said that the French President's attempts to dialogue with Russia were futile, while criticizing the German government for obstructing more severe sanctions against Russia, specifically ending oil and gas supplies from Russia. Mr. Macron himself spoke out against these criticisms, including attacking some Polish politicians who were trying to influence the presidential election in France./.
