The French believe that talks between Russia and Ukraine could happen as early as this summer, anonymous sources told Bloomberg.
Any future talks would depend on several conditions, including the success of Ukraine’s spring offensive, which would give Kiev a strong position during the talks, the sources confirmed.
Bloomberg reported that an official from Macron’s office confirmed the plan Bonne was to discuss with Wang. He declined to comment on the details, adding that France’s allies had been informed of the French initiative.
Phone call with Zelensky
It remains unclear whether Macron has Kiev’s support for his plan.
However, on Saturday, the Elysee Palace made it clear that it “discussed the next steps in organizing a peace summit” with Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president confirmed that the pair discussed “the results of the French president’s recent visit to China” in a telephone conversation.
Macron in China: Talk to Russia
Foreign
Without confirming the details of the report, French sources told The Daily Telegraph: “Macron has publicly stated during his trip that he wants to get China to commit to playing a constructive role. Of course, diplomatic talks took place, which are followed by further steps.”
The Kremlin reported on Wednesday that it had not seen any plans for a peace deal presented by France.
Beijing has so far shown no signs of pressuring Moscow to end its invasion. In China, Macron failed to persuade Chinese President Xi Jinping to talk to Zelensky and unnerved allies by declaring that Europe must not be a vassal of the US agenda on Taiwan.
A snake in the grass?
James Cleverly, Britain’s foreign secretary, admitted during a visit to Japan for the G7 summit that while he understood the hawkish attitude of some of his colleagues, “China is going to move on whether we deal with it or not.” “If we don’t engage, we will lose that influence. I have no intention of throwing away the influence I have, not even in China,” he emphasized.
Reacting to Macron’s plans, Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the UK parliament’s defense committee, told The Daily Telegraph: “He may think he is pursuing a noble goal, but in reality he is playing by China’s playbook and bypassing normal international procedures and recognized mechanisms for resolving international disputes.” “
A parade awaited Macron, Leyen a place in the corner
Foreign
Iain Duncan Smith, the former chairman of the Conservative Party, who maintains considerable influence in it, believes that Ukrainians do not trust the French president very much.
“When I was in Ukraine, I found out that they don’t trust the Chinese and they don’t trust Macron either, because it was he who got them into this predicament in particular when he came up with a disastrous deal together with the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2014,” he specified.
“They definitely don’t trust him since he went to China. They say to themselves: Macron has only one goal, and that is to strengthen Macron’s image, and he doesn’t care who he drags along to achieve it when he is facing such domestic trouble. His behavior is truly bizarre and resembles a snake in the grass,” he concluded, referring to the tumultuous backlash against his forceful pension reforms.
Le Monde newspaper wrote that weariness with Macron’s do-it-yourself habits could explain why Philippe Errera, a foreign ministry heavyweight in political and security affairs, intends to step down this summer after four years.
