French President Emmanuel Macron said that he is willing to tighten the sanctions against Russia if the situation in the Donbas escalates.

He made a statement to this effect at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles.

“If needed, we will have to intensify the sanctions, but (only) if there is an escalation. But if there is a de-escalation, this won’t happen, and I want there to be a de-escalation,” Macron emphasized.

He also added that a discussion of the “Normandy Format” (Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia) leaders has been planned for the near future, and this will facilitate an assessment of the current situation in the Donbas. Macron also advocated for a hearing at this session of the OSCE report on the situation in the Donbas and the compliance with the Minsk agreements by the parties.

Putin, in turn, said that sanctions on Russia “will not change the situation in the Donbas”.

“How will sanctions against Russia help to normalize the crisis in South-Eastern Ukraine? They will not help in any way,” the Russian President stated. He later approached the French press with a request to “fight to remove the economic restrictions”.

French journalists were interested to know whether the fate of Roman Sushchenko, the Ukrainian journalist arrested in Russia, was discussed at the meeting. Macron responded that the matter of human rights was discussed, but no specific names were mentioned.

He substantiated this by saying that mentioning individual incidents will not help progress in the resolution of the situation, and added that the important thing is to find a solution which corresponds to the values which France is committed to.
On May 6, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reported that Macron had agreed to remain in the “Normandy Four”.

On Tuesday May 30, a meeting of the Normandy Four with foreign ministry representatives will take place. Ukraine will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko.

  Macron, Putin, Sanctions, Donbas

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