Contents tagged with Macron

  • Macron hopes Russia will remain a member of the Council of Europe

    During a meeting with CE Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he hopes that Russia will remain a member of the Council of Europe despite its disagreements with the other members of the organization, reported in Le Figaro.

    “I hope Russia will remain a member of the Council of Europe,” said Macron as he welcomed Jagland to the Elysée Palace.

    France will take over the presidency of the Council of Europe in mid-May.

    Previously, it was reported in the …

  • Kyiv: Russia refuses to agree on 'Easter truce' in Donbas

    During negotiations held by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Russia refused to support Ukraine’s initiative to declare an Easter truce that would start on April 19, said Ukrainian representative in the TCG, Iryna Herashchenko.

    According to her, the Skype conference lasted for six hours, but the negotiations bore no results.

    “Russia refused to support the Ukrainian initiative to declare a truce for the holiday and refused to take on the responsibility of enforcing a cease-fire in the Donbas, …

  • Macron to meet Poroshenko and Zelensky on April 12

    Ukraine’s Presidential candidate and actor Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Paris (France) to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on April 12, the same day as Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, announced at a briefing Poroshenko’s external adviser and spokesperson for his election campaign, Oleg Medvedev.

    "I know that Zelensky will travel to meet Macron. French authorities coordinated this issue with the Ukrainian side through the diplomatic channels. The Poroshenko’s view is that it …

  • Macron to meet with Poroshenko and Zelensky ahead of the second round of presidential elections in Ukraine

    French President Emmanuel Macron will hold meetings with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky ahead of the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine, reports LB.ua, citing two of its diplomatic sources. This week, Petro Poroshenko will also meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    The last time Poroshenko met with Macron was during his working visit to France in November 2018.

  • Putin complains to Macron about elections in Ukraine

    During a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Macron complained about “the intensification of the anti-Russian campaign”.

    “When exchanging views on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin drew Emmanuel Macron's attention to the anti-Russian campaign of Kyiv authorities, which has intensified in the context of the upcoming presidential elections in March,” the Kremlin’s press service reported.

    Putin said that the actions of the Ukrainian side, including the …

  • France plans to continue military presence in Syria and Iraq in 2019

    Speaking at a military base near Toulouse on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that French troops will continue to take part in the activities of the international coalition in Syria and Iraq despite the announced withdrawal of the US troops.

    The president addressed his speech being broadcast by his press service to military, “The retreat from Syria announced by our American friends cannot make us deviate from our strategic objective: eradicating Daesh, freeing all territories …

  • Macron and Putin discuss Kerch Strait incident

    French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Kerch crisis in a phone call, the official Kremlin website reports. 

    Putin told the press service that he and Macron had continued the “exchange of opinions” on the topic, but did not provide any further details on the discussion. 

    The two presidents also considered the problems of the Syrian situation in detail. 

    According to a communique from the Élysée Palace, Macron …

  • Merkel and Macron demand that Russia release Ukrainian sailors

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded that Russia release the Ukrainian sailors who were on board the Ukrainian ships captured last month in the Kerch Strait.

    According to the Ukrainian side, Russia illegally seized two military boats and a tug. Kyiv accused Moscow of military aggression.

    “We demand safe, free and unimpeded transit for all ships through the Kerch Strait and the immediate and unconditional release of all illegally detained Ukrainian …

  • Kremlin: Putin explained attack on Ukrainian ships to Merkel and Macron

    During a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his German and French colleagues Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron a detailed explanation about the incident in the Kerch Strait, reported  Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as cited by Interfax.

    “The president gave comprehensive explanations about the Black Sea border incident [at the meeting with Merkel], and demonstrated it clearly. He also demonstrated it clearly yesterday, at the meeting with …

  • Putin supports Macron's idea of forming a European army

    In an interview with RT France during his visit to Paris, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that French President Emmanuel Macron's idea of forming unified European armed forces reflects a “generally positive process”.

     “As for the alternative all-European armed forces, this is not a new idea. President Macron has reanimated it but one of the ex-presidents of France, Jacques Chirac, also told me about it. These ideas existed even before him,” Putin said.

     “Europe is a powerful economic …