France’s President Emmanuel Macron told France Inter radio yesterday that diplomatic activity for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict had to be accelerated now, and in the upcoming weeks. Today, on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, he made a point of meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on opening up lines of communication. With Xi, both sides stressed the importance of pursuing an independent, sovereign path—which could aid in pulling the world back from two hostile camps..
Lavrov met briefly with Macron and reported that Macron confirmed his willingness for continued dialogue with President Vladimir Putin, to try to fashion an end to the conflict. (Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the summit that he would also continue talking to Putin—that such contacts were “important.") However, Lavrov pointed out to Macron that Kiev was “putting forward conditions that are clearly unrealistic and inconsistent with the situation,” so their “categorical refusal” of any serious negotiation is a real stumbling block.
