Overview
- Macron said technical-level discussions are under way to prepare renewed contact with the Kremlin nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
- He emphasized that the process is transparent and conducted in consultation with President Volodymyr Zelensky and European partners.
- He offered no timeline for high-level talks and said Russia is not demonstrating a real readiness to negotiate a ceasefire.
- He argued that Europe should restore its own channels to Moscow and cited the need for future security guarantees after the war.
- EU-Russia relations have been largely frozen since 2022 under extensive sanctions, though the Kremlin recently called European calls for dialogue “positive.”