French President Emmanuel Macron believes that Europe must resume direct dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in search of a peaceful solution to the war with Ukraine, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
In an interview with several European publications, including the German "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and the French "Le Monde", Macron said that Europe cannot delegate negotiations with Russia to Washington.
"It must be possible to resume dialogue with Russia. Why? Because the day peace comes, it will also affect Europe," the French president emphasized. According to him, communication channels have already been restored at the technical level. Macron added that a well-coordinated European approach is needed and that there should not be too many intermediaries. He said this in response to the question of whether he was the person who wanted to talk directly with Putin.
According to the Kremlin, Russia is ready to resume dialogue with France at the presidential level. "There have been contacts and we can confirm it. If there is a need and a desire, they can relatively quickly lead to the resumption of dialogue at the highest level," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.
Peskov stressed that "bringing relations to zero is illogical, counterproductive and useless for all parties". Regarding Macron's stated readiness for direct talks between Europe and Putin, he noted that this had "made an impression". The Russian president has repeatedly stated that it was not Russia that broke off contacts, but the EU countries.
Macron's foreign policy adviser Emmanuel Bonn recently visited Moscow. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that this step was coordinated.
According to Peskov, the contact is currently at a technical level and there are no further developments at the moment.