Original title: Macron spoke with Russian and Ukrainian leaders separately, and all parties said that the situation in Ukraine should be “cooled”
French President Macron
On January 28, local time, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky respectively. All parties said they should continue to maintain dialogue on the Ukraine issue and “cool down” the situation in Ukraine.
Putin told Macron that he had “no intention to escalate the situation in Ukraine,” Reuters reported on January 28. Putin also said that Russia will decide the next step after evaluating the written reply of the United States and NATO on the security agreement, but the United States and NATO did not respond to the NATO expansion and other issues that Russia is really concerned about in the reply. Macron said that Russia should respect the sovereignty of its neighbors. The report pointed out that the leaders of Russia and France both believed that “it is necessary to cool down the situation in Ukraine” and that all parties should “continue to maintain dialogue.”
Russia submitted an agreement on Russian security to the United States and NATO in December 2021. According to the agreement, Russia put forward demands such as stopping NATO’s eastward expansion and Ukraine not joining NATO.
According to a report by the TASS news agency on January 29, Macron also had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 28th. Zelensky said that the Ukrainian side is very satisfied with the resumption of the “Normandy model” talks. “As long as there is room for dialogue, then the parties should hold talks on the Ukraine issue. If all parties make further diplomatic efforts on this issue, the situation in Russia and Ukraine will not escalate further.” Macron reiterated to Zelensky that the law commitment to safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty.
On January 26, local time, France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine held “Normandy model” talks on the Ukraine issue in Paris, France. Under this model, the four countries work together to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. Dmitry Kozak, a Russian representative and deputy director of the Russian Presidential Office, who attended the meeting at the time, said that although the parties still had “differences in understanding” on the Ukraine issue, the four countries agreed to “unconditionally maintain the ceasefire commitment.” The consensus reached during the talks “formed the basis for future conflict resolution”. Kozak revealed that a new round of talks between the four countries is expected to be held in Berlin, Germany in two weeks.
Recently, the deterioration of Russia-Ukraine relations has accelerated, and the two countries have deployed a large number of military personnel and equipment on the border. The United States, Ukraine and NATO all said that Russia has assembled troops near the eastern border of Ukraine, and there is a possibility of “invading” Ukraine. Russia denies this and emphasizes that NATO’s military activities threaten Russia’s national security, and Russia has the right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory. At the same time, Russia hopes that the West will stop hyping up the “Russian ‘invasion’ theory”.