Macron Urges Direct European Talks With Putin If US Peace Effort Fails

By Aurélie Pugnet

(EurActiv) — European leaders and Ukraine should be prepared to engage directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin if US-led peace talks fail, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, signalling a potential shift in the bloc’s role in negotiations to end the war.

If the US-led peace talks break down, “we will have to, in the coming weeks, find ways for Europeans to re-engage in a full-fledged dialogue with Russia, in full transparency with Ukraine,” Macron said. He added that negotiations could move forward in the “next hours.”

Efforts to secure a peace deal after three years of war have gathered pace under US President Donald Trump, but European capitals have largely been sidelined from the process until recently.

Speaking during an early morning press conference following Thursday’s European Council summit, Macron said “we must find the right framework to talk properly” with the Russians.

“Otherwise we speak to negotiators who then go and discuss with the Russians,” he said, suggesting that the ongoing peace talks were complicated.

The situation is “not ideal,” Macron added. “It will soon be useful again to talk to Vladimir Putin.”