French President Emmanuel Macron, who expressed his desire to hold a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has not yet taken any real steps toward this goal.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), made this statement during a briefing. According to her, the statements from the French side have not transitioned into a practical dimension. As often happens with our French colleagues, the matter has not gone beyond words so far, Zakharova stated.
The diplomat claimed that Macron does not actually intend to hold negotiations with Putin. She believes the French leader is using such public statements to attempt to attach his own demands to the negotiation process regarding Ukraine. Furthermore, Zakharova emphasized that Russia has not refused high-level contacts with Paris. She noted that the rejection of dialogue was the choice of the French leadership, not Moscow.
The MFA spokesperson added that in the context of resolving the Ukraine conflict, few countries have exerted as much effort as France to disrupt Russian-American relations. This diplomatic tension comes amid a broader cooling of relations between the West and Russia, where France has historically attempted to position itself as a mediator. Despite these previous efforts, the current rhetoric from the Russian MFA suggests a significant breakdown in trust and communication channels between the Elysee Palace and the Kremlin.
