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- They didn't come out of Paris: France is trying to integrate into the Ukrainian settlement
They didn't come out of Paris: France is trying to integrate into the Ukrainian settlement
The Kremlin and the Elysee Palace have restored technical contacts that will allow for prompt high-level negotiations. A conversation between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin would be a positive signal in the context of a dialogue with the EU, but serious preparations are required for success, the Federation Council told Izvestia. Experts believe that the main topics of the dialogue may be the Ukrainian conflict, sanctions and the situation in Africa and the Middle East. Macron has repeatedly called for reanimating contacts with the Russian side. But he does not represent the whole of Europe, and his presidential term expires in 2027. Now there are technical contacts between the Russian Federation and Germany, a European source told Izvestia. But Europe will not be able to sit down at the negotiating table on Ukraine in Abu Dhabi without changing its position. How the situation around the conflict is changing the mood in the EU countries — in the Izvestia article.
When will the Presidents of Russia and France have a telephone conversation?
As the negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi progressed, the European Union realized that it had found itself in the position of a passive observer. Now there are more and more voices from there in favor of restoring contacts with Moscow. France has actually become the main lobbyist — President Emmanuel Macron has invited several European leaders to resume dialogue with Russia.
"It is important that we structure the resumption of the European discussion with the Russians without being naive, without putting pressure on the Ukrainians, but also without being dependent on third parties in this discussion," he said.
Earlier, French media reported that Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonn secretly visited Moscow on February 3 to meet with Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. After that, the French leader announced the restoration of contacts with the Russian Federation on a "technical level."
Moscow really maintains contacts with Paris, if desired, they will allow for a fairly prompt dialogue at the highest level, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.
— Indeed, contacts have taken place — we can confirm this, which, if desired and necessary, will help to establish a dialogue at the highest level quickly enough. So far, we have not received any indications that this desire exists," Peskov said, answering a question from Izvestia.
Moscow drew attention to the statements of the French president about the need to restore relations with Russia. The Kremlin is impressed by these statements, the Russian Federation has always been a supporter of dialogue, the presidential representative stressed.
Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron have held more than 75 telephone conversations since 2017, Izvestia estimates. Contacts were particularly intense in the first half of 2022, with 20 calls and one face—to-face meeting. The last telephone conversation between the Presidents of the Russian Federation and France took place on July 1 last year. It lasted more than two hours.: The parties discussed the conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East — just at that time, the United States launched attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
What can the leaders of Russia and France discuss?
The talks between Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron would be a positive signal, but deep study is important for the success of the conversation, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia.
— Any contacts are undoubtedly positive. But in order for them to be productive and bring results, the initiator of the negotiations needs to think over the topic and agenda in advance so that it is understandable and acceptable to the other side," Karasin stressed.
The list of topics that Russia and France can discuss is quite wide.
— We can discuss today's pain points with Macron. This is, of course, Ukraine. It's probably a question of sanctions. This is an issue where our interests intersect — for example, Africa," Alexei Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia.
He also stressed that Russian MPs regularly maintain contacts with individual European MPs.
On February 10, Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukrainian issue with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who expressed support for Russian efforts aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict.
Paris' intentions to restore contact with Moscow point to the recognition of the failure of the EU's efforts to isolate Russia. Emmanuel Macron is striving to integrate into the new reality and act as a European representative in dialogue with our country, Oleg Karpovich, Head of the Department of the MGIMO Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with Izvestia.
— France is trying to play a leading role in European diplomacy. However, Macron cannot offer something substantial that takes into account our requirements. Besides, there is no certainty that he really represents the European position," the expert noted.
Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, also stressed in an interview with Izvestia that the French president does not represent the entire European Union. And his presidential career is on the wane: Macron's term ends next spring. Against this background, he may well be active diplomatically in order to strengthen his position in the future.
Nevertheless, Macron's contacts with Putin can play a positive role if they are used to understand the Kremlin's red lines, said Maria Frolova, a researcher at the Institute of World Military Economics and Strategy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
— Not like their two-hour conversation in the summer of 2025, when Macron directly linked any negotiations with the recognition of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The conversation now should be a dialogue in order to hear and understand the Russian position. Otherwise, French "initiative" risks becoming an instrument of self—love — an attempt to regain the role of the architect of European security, which has been talked about in Paris since the first attempts at a "strategic dialogue" with Russia, she said.
Can Europe join the negotiations on Ukraine
France's position on the need to reanimate negotiations with Russia is supported in Italy, Hungary and Slovakia. The leaders of the latter two countries have repeatedly met with the Russian president since the start of their meeting. Recently, the Czech Republic joined this group of states — the new Prime Minister Andrei Babis called on Europe to start direct negotiations with Vladimir Putin to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
However, there is a camp of countries in the EU that oppose dialogue with the Russian Federation. These include mainly the States of Northern Europe and Poland. The embassies of Denmark and Finland in Moscow refused to comment on the position of their governments to Izvestia. Others speak cautiously about the potential dialogue. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was ready to talk with Russia, but warned against opening negotiation channels that were not agreed upon at the level of Europe, Ukraine and the United States. As a European source told Izvestia, there are now technical contacts between Moscow and Berlin. According to him, discussions about the possibility of resuming contacts with Russia are underway in Germany after the meeting between Putin and Trump in Anchorage. The European Commission acknowledged that it would have to talk to the Russian Federation, but no specific decisions were made on this matter.
The initiative of Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni to appoint an EU special envoy for negotiations with Russia has not yet been developed. She proposed former ECB president Mario Draghi for this post, and the candidacy of Finnish President Alexander Stubb was also discussed in Western publications.
In any case, the positions of Paris and Berlin will continue to be the most significant. It was Germany and France that were the active sponsors of the Ukrainian conflict. They also signed the Minsk Agreements, and the leaders of Germany and France visited Moscow on the eve of the start of their work in February 2022. However, Berlin and Paris have not put pressure on Ukraine to start implementing the signed agreements.
— Macron is now not so much "reconciling" with Moscow as defiantly reminding Washington and Beijing that without Europe (and Paris personally), the final architecture of the peace agreement on Ukraine cannot be approved. Its influence in the EU can hardly be called unconditional, but France remains a key player on two critical issues — security guarantees for Kiev and the regime for handling frozen Russian assets," Frolova said.
France now insists that negotiations should begin after the ceasefire, while saying nothing about suspending military supplies to Kiev. Moreover, Paris and London insist on sending a contingent of the "coalition of the willing" to Ukraine as security guarantees. Russian officials emphasize that Western troops in this territory will be considered as a legitimate target for strikes.
— It is impossible to talk about the presence of French representatives at the negotiations now. Paris must actually prove its commitment to a diplomatic settlement and contribute to forcing Kiev to peace," Karpovich said.
Kortunov stressed that Moscow continues to consider the EU to be part of the Ukrainian problem rather than its solution. To change this situation, a serious correction of Europe's current position is required. However, a dialogue on the architecture of European security will be useful in any case, since it is impossible to build such a system without these countries.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
