A few days before German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron is going to Moscow on Monday, February 7, to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The situation around Ukraine is increasingly uncertain and the possibility of a de-escalation will be at the heart of the discussions.
A little over a week after a first telephone interview, here is Emmanuel Macron present in person in Moscow to meet there this Monday Vladimir Poutine. The French president hopes to find a way to lower the tension between Russia and Ukraine.
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On the Russian side, it is announced that the discussions will focus on the famous ” security guarantees that Moscow demands of Westerners, indicates our correspondent on site, John Cassey. That is to say the non-enlargement of NATO in Eastern Europe. The subject, it is considered in Russia, is more a matter of bilateral discussions with the United States, but France, like Germany, has the reputation of being a more reasonable, more sensitive interlocutor than the Americans or the British. , interests and concerns of Moscow.
And then in Russia, Paris is above all expected to exert pressure, alongside Berlin, on Ukraine to obtain the application of the Minsk agreements; which provide for a large autonomy given to the separatist regions of the Donbass. In this sense, this Monday’s meeting is also a prerequisite for a resuscitation of the “Normandy format”, summits which bring together Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. The joint press conference scheduled after the meeting will make it possible to see more clearly on the next steps, and on the possibility of a de-escalation.
Macron, an interlocutor quality in Putin’s eyes
De-escalation is the word on which the Élysée insists and it is Emmanuel Macron’s priority objective, reports our special correspondent in Moscow, Valerie Gas. The French president is betting that by traveling to Moscow to meet face to face with Vladimir Putin, he will give himself the means ” to enter into negotiations on clear terms to go for example in the direction of a reduction of the Russian military device on the border.
During their last telephone conversation, Vladimir Poutine expressed his interest in a direct dialogue with Emmanuel Macron whom he considers – according to the Élysée – as an interlocutor ” quality “which he wants to go with” at the bottom of things “. The discussions promise to be long between the two men who know each other well. Their last interview took place in France at Fort Brégançon in the summer of 2019.
This initiative by the French president was prepared in consultation with European partners and the United States. Emmanuel Macron has multiplied telephone interviews in recent days and his action has the support of Kiev, where the French president will go after Moscow. Because it is in Moscow that the problem lies, explains the entourage of the French president, according to whom the priority is to preserve ” respect for the sovereignty of Ukraine “.
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