Emmanuel Macron (Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON/EPA)

President of France Emmanuel Macron said that preparations are underway to resume direct talks between Europe and Russia. The politician's words were reported by Politico.

Technical discussions are underway to prepare for such talks, Macron said when asked about his call to resume dialogue with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, made in December 2025.

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"It is important that Europeans restore their own channels of communication, it is being prepared at the technical level," the French president said.

The politician noted that negotiations with Putin should be coordinated with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his "main European colleagues," and emphasized the role of the "coalition of the willing," which brings together like-minded countries that support Kyiv.

However, Macron was quick to point out that by continuing to bomb Ukraine, Russia was not showing any willingness to negotiate a peace deal.

The French president also noted that "we continue to support Ukraine, which is under bombs, in the cold," recalling the occupiers' attacks on civilians and energy infrastructure.

Earlier, on February 1, French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris had never ruled out direct dialogue with Russia to protect their own interests.

  • In December, responding to Macron's statement about resuming contact with Putin, Zelenskyy said that he had told his French counterpart about the need to "fight" for US participation in peace talks.
  • The last time the French president and the Russian dictator spoke was in July 2025, when their call lasted more than two hours, and one of its topics was the Russian-Ukrainian war. It was their first conversation since 2022.
  • Interlocutor LIGA.net in the Office of the Ukrainian president reported that after this call, Macron contacted Zelenskyy to inform him about the conversation.
  • Bloomberg's sources said that during a call with the French president, Putin rejected the idea of a ceasefire.