Macron Says Welcomes Attempts At Dialogue Between US, Russia

PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2022) French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he welcomes attempts at dialogue between the United States and Russia amid the Ukrainian crisis since a consensus is needed to address the causes of common concern and to ensure collective security.

Senior US and Russian diplomats held a strategic stability dialogue in Geneva on Monday, followed by Russia-NATO talks in Brussels on Wednesday and a meeting of Russian negotiators and representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday.

"The United States is doing today what I have been doing for several years: they are talking to the Russians. This is good news. Is it easy? No. I have never said this, and US President Joe Biden neither ... Is this necessary? More than ever, if we do not want to maintain the status quo that has been a source of concern to everyone and our collective security," Macron told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

The president also noted that France and Germany had always negotiated between Russia and Ukraine on the Minsk agreements in a spirit of dialogue.

The conflict in Donbas between Ukraine's government and the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk republics has been going on since 2014. The Minsk Agreements, designed to find a political resolution to the conflict, were negotiated by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine � the Normandy group � in February 2015. However, the agreement has not been observed so far and sporadic clashes continue. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev is not fulfilling the Minsk agreements and is delaying negotiations to resolve the conflict.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has noted that Ukraine has sent half of its armed forces to Donbas. Moscow has also expressed concern about the transfer of NATO's military equipment to Russian borders and the increase in the number of Western instructors in Donbas. Western countries continue to provide military support to Ukraine and supply it with weapons which are used in Donbas.