French President Emmanuel Macron held crunch talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Ukraine Friday as Paris said it was up to Moscow to show it was serious about defusing tensions.
Macron had announced earlier this week he would hold the telephone talks with Putin in the spirit of a “demanding dialogue” with Russia for clarification over what Moscow’s intentions are on Ukraine. A Russian troop build-up close to the border with eastern Ukraine has raised Western fears the Kremlin is planning to invade its pro-EU neighbour. Russia denies any plans to invade but has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees from the West, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.
A French presidential official, who asked not to be named, told AFP that the conversation between the two leaders had taken place. No written statement was issued by the Elysee Palace but reporters were told to expect a briefing later in the day. Macron had said this week that Russia was behaving as a “power of disequilibrium” in the region but had also made clear he was open to dialogue with Moscow to de-escalate the situation. His relatively conciliatory tone has contrasted with the more strident rhetoric about the probability of an invasion from France’s NATO allies the UK and United States.
'Now the ball is in Putin's court,' Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio Friday.
“Does he want to be the one to say that Russia is a power of disequilibrium, or is he ready to show de-escalation?” he asked. “It’s up to Vladimir Putin to say if he wants confrontation or consultation. We are ready for consultation. But it still takes two to do it,” he said. Le Drian said that there was “of course” still the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, warning that such a move would have “massive repercussions” for Moscow.
But he added: “It is essential to continue to talk in a tough fashion with the Russians to hold Vladimir Putin to account.”
The Elysee on Wednesday hailed as a “positive signal” talks in Paris between Russia and Ukraine — as well as France and Germany — which produced the first joint written statement on the conflict in eastern Ukraine signed up to by Moscow and Kyiv since 2019. They agreed to preserve a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine — where pro-Moscow separatists declared breakaway regions — and to hold new talks in Berlin in February.
© Agence France-Presse
