Macron meets Putin, talks for six hours, prepares for Zelensky

French president Emmanuel Macron visited Moscow and
met with Russian president Putin on Feb. 7. The two talked, with only their interpreters,
for six hours, theguardian.com reported. Macron had played down expectations
before the meeting, stating that he does not “believe in spontaneous miracles”.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters that the situation was “too
complex to expect a decisive breakthrough after just one meeting.”

After the meeting, Putin told reporters that Macron
had put forward some interesting proposals regarding security overall from
Russia’s standpoint, and that these were worth studying. Macron pointed out
that Ukraine had taken a step that should be noted by removing legislation from
consideration by the Verkhovna Rada that Russia felt went against the Minsk
Agreement.

Reuters quoted a French official as saying that Putin
had promised Macron to send Russian troops home after the military exercises in
Belarus were completed. The statement was later denied by Peskov.

Macron will be visiting Kyiv on Feb. 8 to meet with President
Zelensky and continue this round of shuttle diplomacy. German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz will be visiting Kyiv next week.

James Hydzik: It’s not
clear at the moment whether Macron sees himself as the elder statesman of
Europe and is in a position to adjudicate between Putin and Zelensky, or if he
and Scholz are trying to keep diplomacy alive until the situation changes and
the danger dissipates naturally. Despite consistent signals from Ukraine’s
allies (overall) regarding their support, suspicions will run high as to
whether Macron has brought a behind-the-curtain agreement to which Zelensky is
expected to adhere. Macron mentioning the legislation, which the office of the
president claimed that it hadn’t done to please the Russians, will not help.