French President Emmanuel Macron (pictured right) again called Putin (pictured left) to discuss the situation in Ukraine.Figure: Retrieved from the Twitter of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
It has been more than two months since Russia invaded Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron, who had been mediating Ukraine and Russia to try to resolve the war, was successfully re-elected last week. He had his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 3rd, and the two sides had a long talk. For two hours, Putin claimed that Russia was still open to negotiations, but demanded that the West stop military aid to Ukraine, accusing Ukraine of being inconsistent and unwilling to end the war.
The French presidential office said Macron would call Putin later on Tuesday after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the first high-level hotline between France and Russia since March 29. Although the hotline between Macron and Putin was kept open in the early days of the Ukrainian-Russian war, due to factors such as the French presidential election, it has been more than a month since the last public hotline plan between the two sides.
According to the “AFP” report, Macron had a two-hour long talk with the two of Putin’s hotline after more than a month, and the two sides focused on discussing the situation in Ukraine. Although Putin claimed in the conversation that Russia has always been open to negotiations, he has repeatedly complained that Ukraine’s attitude is inconsistent and that European countries deliberately ignore the fact that Ukraine has committed “war crimes” (war crime).
In addition, Putin also asked Macron on the phone to stop the Western aid to Ukraine. As for the global food security crisis proposed by Macron, Putin blamed the Western sanctions on Russia. It is understood that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has so far displaced more than 13 million people, leading to the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.