French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that he wants to involve European partners in resuming dialogue with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin almost four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, UNN reports with reference to AFP.
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He spoke after sending his top advisor to Moscow last week, in the first such meeting since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
"What did I get? Confirmation that Russia does not want peace now," he said in an interview with several European newspapers, including Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung.
"But above all, we have re-established these channels of discussion at a technical level," he said in an interview published on Tuesday.
My desire is to share this with my European partners and to have a well-organized European approach
Dialogue with Putin should take place without "too many interlocutors, with a certain mandate," the French president said.
Last year, Macron said he believed Europe should resume dialogue with Putin, rather than leaving the United States alone to take the initiative in negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
"Whether we like Russia or not, Russia will still be there tomorrow," Suddeutsche Zeitung quoted the French president as saying.
Therefore, it is important that we structure the resumption of European dialogue with the Russians, without naivety, without putting pressure on the Ukrainians, but also so as not to depend on third parties in this discussion
After Macron sent his advisor Emmanuel Bonne to the Kremlin last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Putin was ready to accept a call from the French leader.
"If you want to call and discuss something seriously, then call," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian media.
Macron and Putin last spoke in July, their first known phone conversation in over two and a half years. The French leader attempted a series of phone calls in 2022 to warn Putin against invading Ukraine, and traveled to Moscow earlier that year. He maintained phone contact with Putin after the invasion, but talks ceased after a phone call in September 2022.