Macron and Putin’s conversation lasted more than 2 hours: details of the talks
1 July 23:38
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to BFM TV and Russian media.
The conversation lasted more than two hours. The main topics were Russia’s war against Ukraine, the security situation in the Middle East, and Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the Elysee Palace, the presidents of Russia and France discussed the war in Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear program.
This is the first phone conversation between Putin and Macron since 2022.
Macron emphasized France’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for a ceasefire to be established as soon as possible and for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to “achieve a sustainable and credible settlement of the conflict.”
Putin blamed the West for the policies that allegedly led to the war in Ukraine and said that Western powers had allegedly ignored Russia’s security interests for many years.
Putin warned Macron that a peace agreement on Ukraine should be “long-term.”
Moscow claimed that the conversation was “substantive” and touched on Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as the conflict between Iran and Israel.
The main focus was on the situation in Ukraine. During the conversation, Putin repeated his standard accusations against the West, saying that the war is “a direct consequence of the policy of Western states, which for many years have ignored Russia’s security interests, created an anti-Russian bridgehead in Ukraine, and condoned violations of the rights of Russian-speaking residents.”
The Kremlin dictator also complained about the supply of modern Western weapons to Kyiv.
At the same time, Putin voiced his vision of a “peaceful settlement.”
“Putin confirmed the principled approaches to possible agreements, which should be comprehensive and long-term, address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and be based on new territorial realities,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Iranian nuclear issue
Another important topic of conversation was the Iranian nuclear program. Macron reaffirmed France’s desire to find a diplomatic solution that would take into account “not only the nuclear issue, but also Iran’s missile programs and its role in the region.”
For its part, the Kremlin emphasized “Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy” and called for fulfillment of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and cooperation with the IAEA. Paris, in turn, called for the IAEA inspectors to be allowed to visit Iran’s facilities.
Contacts resumed for the first time since 2022
This is the first telephone conversation between Putin and Macron since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, most Western leaders have stopped direct contact with the Russian president.
Putin himself has previously publicly expressed regret over this.
