French President Emmanuel Macron after five hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow acknowledged that Russia had real concerns about a number of security issues and called for a compromise process aimed at creating a new pan-European security architecture. He summed up the results of that meeting at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart that lasted far into the night.
"The coming days will be decisive and involve meaningful discussions," Macron said. - "We have the will to work together to guarantee a new order of stability and security in Europe."
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, the French leader expressed the view that a conversation with Russia, which he called a European power, was a necessary condition for building peace in Europe. He stressed the mutual desire of Moscow and Paris "to work together to guarantee a new order of stability and security."
At the same time Macron opposed the infringement of the rights of Europeans in the revision of security principles. In his opinion, Russia is willing to revise agreements of 30 years ago, but this cannot take place "at the expense of fundamental European principles". In this regard, he urged not to make mistakes of the past and stated the need to "find common ground in the coming weeks to defuse the situation". According to Macron, "more innovative solutions" should be found in addition to those already in place.
One of the points of common interest between Russia and the West, according to Macron, could be the issue of arms control. He called for working out specific security guarantees for European countries on a common basis and said that during his conversation with Putin a number of proposals were put forward that fall within the sphere of coincidence of interests of France and Russia. In particular, he mentioned Moscow's proposals related to restrictions on the deployment of armed forces, transparency of the armed forces in Europe, transparency in the field of missile defense, and the establishment of limitations and control over intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.
Ukrainian Question
Following his visit to Moscow, Macron is scheduled to visit Ukraine on February 8, where he will meet with that country's President Vladimir Zelensky. At a joint press conference with Putin, the French leader promised that he would raise the issue of the implementation of the Minsk agreements during discussions in Kiev. Macron also stressed several times that the conditions of this document must be strictly implemented. At the same time, the consolidation of progress should take place within the framework of the Normandy format with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
He also promised to convey to the Ukrainian leader the main points of discussion with Moscow regarding guarantees of security and stability in Europe. After the conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Macron intends to hold a new exchange of views with Putin by phone.
First in the West
Commenting on the French leader's speech at a press conference in Moscow, Jean de Gliniasty, head of research at the Institute for international and strategic relations in Paris and former French ambassador to Russia, said that Macron was the first Western leader to openly acknowledge the validity of Russia's security concerns.
According to him, the French president "expressed a very deep thought" that Europe's security is impossible without Russia's security. "This is in line with the concept of indivisible security put forward by Russia. It has not been recognized and used for a long time, but now it has been proclaimed publicly," said the former French ambassador to Moscow.
He expressed the view that "the issue of the settlement in Ukraine is fundamental to the European security structure." "And the main diplomatic priority for France remains making progress in the Normandy format," de Gliniasty concluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS