Macron to Negotiate with Putin and Zelensky Soon

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to conduct new phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming days. He made this announcement during an interview on the France 2 television channel on April 13.

“I will soon be negotiating by phone again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Macron stated, as he is currently campaigning for re-election in the French presidential elections.

Macron also revealed that he is making every effort to stop the fighting in Ukraine and restore peace there. He disagreed with U.S. President Joe Biden's description of the situation in Ukraine as “genocide.” “It is essential to be very careful with terminology today, because we are talking about brotherly peoples (Russians and Ukrainians),” Macron said in response to a question from the host.

“I want to continue trying to end this conflict and restore peace. I do not believe that the escalation of words serves that purpose,” emphasized the French leader.

On April 12, Biden told reporters that the events in Ukraine seem to him to be “genocide,” adding that the legal assessment of what is happening should be left to lawyers.

Macron visited Moscow on February 7 for negotiations with his Russian counterpart. The following day, the French leader was in Kyiv. After the dialogue in Moscow, Macron and Putin have been holding phone conversations regularly, with the number reaching nine in recent weeks, as reported by TASS.