Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this Thursday (3) in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron about the role he believes “neo-Nazis” play in Ukraine’s politics and that the neighboring country has violated. for seven years the Minsk Accords.
“Vladimir Putin commented in detail on yesterday’s speech by the President of France to the French and disagreed with many of the theses expressed. In particular, this refers to Emmanuel Macron’s statement calling a lie that Russia is fighting Nazism in Ukraine,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
On the other hand, the Kremlin said the leaders of Russia and France had “a frank exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine” and agreed to continue contacts at various levels “on the issues raised in the conversation”.
Putin gave Macron “reasonable explanations about the important role of neo-Nazis in Kiev’s state policy,” the Kremlin added.
He also indicated that during the “special operation to protect Donbass” – as Moscow calls the invasion of Ukraine – Russia “intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups who commit war crimes, including the placement of military equipment in residential areas and the use of the civilian population as human shields”.
The Kremlin said Putin drew Macron’s attention to the fact that his speech “does not say a word about the sabotage of the Minsk accords by the Ukrainian leadership for seven years, nor about the fact that Western countries and France itself do not did absolutely nothing to force Kiev to comply.”
The Russian president also stated that “the long-term genocide of civilians in Donbass, which resulted in several casualties and forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek asylum in Russia, is being hushed up.”
Putin reaffirmed in detail the key conditions for negotiations with Ukraine on the end of the conflict and confirmed that, above all, there are the points of demilitarization and the neutral status of the neighboring country in relation to NATO, to prevent him from representing a threat to Russia.
Macron and Putin spoke for an hour and a half, according to the Élysée Palace. It was the third conversation between them since the invasion of Ukraine began a week ago.
In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, Macron had sharply criticized Russia’s armed action in Ukraine, but added that he would keep in touch with Putin in search of a way out of the situation.
The French president is the only leader of a major Western country to decide to keep an open channel of communication with Putin, although in parallel he supports tougher sanctions against Russia for intervening in Ukraine.
Other side
Regarding the conversation, sources at the Elysee Palace reported that Putin told Macron that his offensive in Ukraine is proceeding “as planned” and will intensify unless the neighboring country accepts its conditions, including demilitarization.
The telephone conversation took place at Putin’s request, in which the Russian leader warned that if the Ukrainians do not accept his terms through political and diplomatic channels, Russia will obtain them through military means.
Macron, according to the sources, told Putin that he was making “a serious mistake”, looking for “pretexts” and that his actions were not in line with reality, nor could he justify his violence and the price that his country will pay, ending up “isolated”. , weakened and under sanctions” for an extended period, the sources added.
The French head of state concluded in relation to the conversation that “the worst is yet to come”, due to Putin’s determination and his argument that Ukraine has not complied with the Minsk peace accords.
Palácio do Élysée admitted that although the conversation was “tense” in terms of content, the dialogue was frank, and there is an intention to keep in touch in the future, as both leaders “can say strong things to each other without the conversation going on”. break”.
Macron again demanded that Putin put an end to the military offensive and guarantee the physical integrity of both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and those around him, as well as all civilians in the country. Putin, in turn, stressed that civilians are not the target of the offensive.
The conversation took place on the same day that Russia and Ukraine negotiated a ceasefire, with a meeting of delegations in the Brest region of Belarus.
Putin, according to French sources, has claimed that Ukrainians are committing “war crimes” and behaving like “Nazis”, which is why, although he says he is open to negotiations, he plans to “go all the way” to take over. control of the neighboring country.
Despite the sanctions against Russia already imposed by the international community, France believes there is still room to tighten the siege with more economic or diplomatic measures.
After the conversation with Putin, Macron called Zelensky and explained the Russian president’s conditions. The Ukrainian president has again argued that he will not surrender.
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