French President Emmanuel Macron's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow will improve his image in France and allow him to officially announce his presidential candidacy, Xavier Moreau, an arms expert and geopolitical analyst at French think tank Stratpol, told Sputnik
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) French President Emmanuel Macron's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow will improve his image in France and allow him to officially announce his presidential candidacy, Xavier Moreau, an arms expert and geopolitical analyst at French think tank Stratpol, told Sputnik.
Macron was received by Putin in Moscow this Monday. According to the French president, they managed to find common ground concerning Ukraine and agreed to have a phone conversation soon. On Tuesday, Macron met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kiev.
"President Macron's main goal visiting President Putin in Moscow was to stop the spiral of his diplomatic failures since he took office and to come back to Paris with an international aura: the mission is at least partially accomplished. We will see what is the result of his discussions in Kiev, but for the French press, the result of his five-hour meeting with President Putin is not negative, and Macron could then finally announce officially that he is a candidate at the next presidential election, two months from now," Moreau said.
The expert went on to add that Macron did not come totally empty-handed, noting Zelenskyy's initiative to withdraw the draft law on the principles of state policy of the transition period in Donbas. While Kiev is still not budging on the issue of blanket amnesty for all combatants fighting the Ukrainian forces, there is still room for dialogue, Moreau thinks.
"President Putin has therefore accepted to relaunch the Normandy format discussions. There has been a meeting in Paris and another meeting must follow in Berlin. The status of the Russian-speaking Donbas is central to any progress. What could happen rapidly is a ceasefire in the Donbas and maybe an exchange of prisoners," Moreau added.
The analyst emphasized the fact that Macron had arrived in Moscow alone, without his ministers of foreign affairs or defense, as well as the length of the meeting.
"In five hours, with simultaneous translation, you can really go deep in the understanding of each other's positions. President Putin admitted after the meeting that some of the proposals made by Macron were interesting even if not applicable immediately, as such. So it is not a total failure as some had predicted," Moreau concluded.
The presidential election in France will be held in April. To date, about 30 hopefuls have announced their bids, including far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, head of the far-left France Unbowed party Jean-Luc Melenchon, Republican candidate Valerie Pecresse, a presidential candidate from Europe Ecology - The Greens, Yannick Jadot, Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel, former Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Macron has not yet announced his intention to run for a new presidential term.
