world powers must "keep talking" With Putin to end war in Ukraine: France

The Kremlin has said Biden’s remarks threaten bilateral ties. (file)

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday that international powers should hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin until he is ready to end his invasion of Ukraine.

Le Drian told a conference in Doha that Putin has not achieved any of his objectives, but that a ceasefire should be in place around the bombed city of Mariupol, Ukraine, before talks can take place.

Asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to talk with Putin about a ceasefire this week, Le Drian told the Doha Forum: “We must keep talking with the Russians, we should be okay with President Putin. Should continue talking to him as he doesn’t have the results he has done. Thought he would.”

Le Drian said the Russian offensive united Ukraine and gave a new impetus to the EU and NATO, while Russia was losing key markets for its energy exports.

He added that the dialogue should be “clear, without gullibility and too much firmness”. The French minister said there should be a ceasefire in Mariupol because “no one can negotiate seriously with a gun to the head.”

“But keep talking to him (Putin) so that when the time comes he realizes the price being paid for his intervention in Ukraine is too high, that it is better to negotiate, in a way that allows discussions to open up.” Is. “

“It is for these reasons that President Macron continues to hold talks with President Putin, first to achieve the terms of the ceasefire, and then to negotiate,” Le Drian said.

Macron had earlier warned against a verbal “escalation” of the conflict after US President Joe Biden labeled Putin a “butcher” who “cannot stay in power”.

The Kremlin has said Biden’s remarks threaten bilateral ties.

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