Kremlin confirms Russia, France holding contacts on Putin-Macron dialogue at working level

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed that Moscow and Paris are holding contacts at a working level, amid remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron about preparations to resume dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Indeed, there are certain contacts at the working level, but we cannot yet announce anything noteworthy in this regard,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a press briefing in Moscow.

Peskov’s remarks came as Macron said preparatory work was underway to restart direct discussions between himself and Putin.

“This is being prepared, and so technical discussions are underway to prepare for this,” Macron told reporters during a visit to a farm in his country’s northeastern Haute-Saone department, noting this is being done transparently and in consultation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s main European counterparts.

“It's important that the Europeans indeed re-establish their own channels of communication. This is being prepared from a technical point of view. I think it would be useful, but I don't believe that Russia is currently willing to conclude a peace agreement in the coming days or even weeks,” he added.

In December, the French president said at a press briefing after an EU summit in Brussels that he thinks "it will become useful again to talk to" his Russian counterpart.

"I think that we, Europeans and Ukrainians, have a vested interest in finding a framework to properly re-engage in this discussion. Otherwise, we'll be talking amongst ourselves with negotiators who will then deal with the Russians alone. That's not ideal," Macron said.

Commenting on Macron’s remarks then, Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA that Putin is willing to engage in dialogue with Macron, and this can only be viewed positively if there is “mutual political will.”

- New START, Arctic

Peskov further touched on the issue of the New START treaty’s expiry, arguing that the document’s exact expiration date is “unlikely to be of fundamental importance.”

“We commented yesterday on the overall impact of this document's expiration and the American side's failure to respond to our initiative,” Peskov said.

On Tuesday, the spokesman said that Moscow has yet to receive a response on Putin’s initiative to extend New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between Russia and the US which entered into force on Feb. 5, 2011.

“In just a few days, the world will likely be left in a more dangerous position than it has been so far. For the first time, the US and the Russian Federation — the two countries that possess the world's largest nuclear arsenals — will be left without a fundamental document that would limit and control these arsenals,” Peskov expressed.

“We believe this is very bad,” he added, concerning the document which limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by Moscow and Washington to a maximum of 1,550 each. The treaty is due to expire this Thursday.

He also commented on recent remarks by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on the need for a new policy by the 27-member bloc for the Arctic, saying that Russia is a regional country in this context, “unlike the vast majority of EU countries.”

“If EU representatives mean a new policy aimed at international cooperation, then this is welcome. If they mean confrontation, which is currently quite fashionable in Brussels, then, of course, we are unlikely to welcome it, and it is unlikely to have any positive effect,” he said.

Kallas said during a keynote speech at a conference in the Norwegian city of Tromso that it is “time for a fresh EU Arctic Policy,” and that, for Brussels, it is essential to ground this new policy “in strong partnerships,” particularly in the form of close cooperation with Norway, Canada, and Iceland.