Macron can go to Russia if Putin takes certain steps/AP< p _ngcontent-sc88="" class="news-annotation">French President Emmanuel Macron said he could go to Russia. However, this requires gestures from the president of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin.
Macron noted that he would continue to call Putin. However, he will make these calls with the knowledge of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Macron will travel to Russia under certain conditions
The French President said that someone does not understand why he is calling Putin. However, Macron believes that this is his role. At the same time, he noted that he would not go to Russia just like that.
This requires preconditions, which means gestures from Putin. I will continue to speak with him with the knowledge of the President of Ukraine and on the condition that it will be useful,” Macron said.
He noted that the mentioned conditions have not yet been met. The French President will continue to communicate with Putin about humanitarian issues, in particular prisoners and food security.
“Therefore, I do not exclude anything, but I will do it transparently for the Ukrainian president,” Macron added.
According to him, his relations with Zelensky have not changed due to contact with Putin.
< p>“I don't think we can say that our relations have become colder. France takes the same position. I was transparent about my dialogue with Putin and sometimes did it at the request of President Zelensky,” the French president said.
He added that he was the first leader to host Zelensky between two rounds of the 2019 presidential election. Macron often called the Russian president precisely at the request of Kyiv, but more often on his own initiative.Calls to Putin and attempts to “save him face”: why Macron is criticized
- Zelensky told that Macron offered Ukraine to make territorial concessions in order to “save Putin's face.” However, according to the president, our state will not give up territory in order to save something for someone.
- The French president also urged not to humiliate Russia so that after the war she would get out of isolation.
- Many European politicians openly criticize Macron's position. In particular, the Polish Ambassador to Ukraine, Bartosz Cichocki, suggested that those who want to save Putin's face give up their territories.
- In turn, the head of the Estonian Foreign Affairs Commission, Marko Mihkelson, said that calls to Putin are the path to new aggression .
- In addition, former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said that conversations with Putin are “calls to a terrorist.”
