NICE, France (AP) \u2014 While most of the world is shunning President Vladimir Putin over\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, one of the few leaders keeping an open line of communication is French President Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron\u2019s diplomatic efforts to prevent the war failed, but he\u2019s not giving up: the two men have spoken four times since Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, and 11 times over the past month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French leader, whose country holds the European Union\u2019s rotating presidency, is now one of the few outsiders with a view into Putin\u2019s mindset at the time of the largest military invasion in Europe since World War II.\u00a0Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett\u00a0is also becoming a mediator, meeting Putin on a surprise visit to Moscow on Saturday and speaking with him again by phone on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron\u2019s relentless push for dialogue reflects France\u2019s post-World War II tradition of carving out its own geopolitical path and its refusal to blindly follow the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Russian troops pushed deep into Ukraine, Macron\u2019s resolve to maintain communication channels with Putin is providing Western allies with insight into the Russian leader\u2019s state of mind, his intentions on the battlefield and at home in Russia as the Kremlin cracks down on opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe is keeping a diplomatic channel open for the West in case Putin might want to de-escalate and look for a way out of this crisis,\u201d said Benjamin Haddad, a senior director for Europe at the Atlantic Council in Paris and a member of Macron\u2019s party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two leaders address each other through interpreters with the familiar French word for \u201cyou\u201d \u2014 \u201ctu\u201d \u2014 rather than the formal \u201cvous,\u201d an Elysee presidential palace official said after one phone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron has also spoken to Putin on behalf of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Haddad said, trying to extract some mercy from Putin: local cease-fires, safe passage for trapped civilians and access to humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of mercy, the French president on Monday denounced Moscow\u2019s \u201ccynicism\u201d after a new pledge for humanitarian corridors from some under-fire Ukrainian cities \u2014 with most of the routes leading toward Russia or its ally Belarus, which served as a launching ground for the invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saying that \u201cwe are going to protect people by bringing them to Russia\u201d is \u201chypocritical,\u201d Macron said in an interview on LCI television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During their most recent call on Sunday that came at Macron\u2019s request, the French leader and Putin focused for nearly two hours on the safety of Ukraine\u2019s nuclear plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin said he doesn\u2019t intend to attack them and agreed on the principle of \u201cdialogue\u201d between the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ukraine and Russia on the issue, according to a French official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the French presidency\u2019s practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is \u201cabsolutely no illusion at the Elysee that Putin will keep his word on anything he promises,\u201d Haddad said, or that Putin will change his mind about the invasion. But Haddad said that it\u2019s important that Macron keeps trying to engage Putin even as the West punishes Russia and strengthens Ukraine\u2019s defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And breaking with the diplomatic norm of keeping such conversations secret, the French presidency has widely shared the content of Macron\u2019s talks with Putin. Macron\u2019s advisers and the president himself detailed the excruciating efforts to prevent the war and then laid bare Putin\u2019s broken promises of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That helped Macron galvanize support for the toughest sanctions against Russia, uniting the notoriously divided 27-member EU and revive NATO\u2019s geopolitical role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will go to Paris on Tuesday to hear from Macron directly about his latest conversations with Putin. But U.S. officials remain unconvinced that Macron\u2019s efforts \u2014 or any other leader\u2019s \u2014 have had any significant impact on Putin\u2019s decison-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French president has been clear from the start: Putin alone is to blame for the death and destruction in Ukraine and the major consequences of the war for France and Europe. But on the other hand if Putin wants to talk, he will listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin called on Thursday. The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine had already topped 1 million and several towns in the east were in ruins. Macron picked up and they talked for 90 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An official in the French presidency rushed to brief reporters on the conversation. Putin told Macron the military operation in Ukraine is \u201cgoing according to plan\u201d and he will continue \u201cuntil the end,\u201d the official said on customary condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin claimed that \u201cwar crimes\u201d were being committed by Ukrainians. He called them \u201cNazis,\u201d the official said. There\u2019s no need to negotiate, Putin said. He will achieve the \u201cneutralization and disarmament of Ukraine\u201d with his army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron \u201cspoke the truth\u201d to Putin, the official said, and explained how his war on Ukraine is perceived by the West. \u201cI asked him to stop attacks on Ukraine. At this point, he refuses,\u201d Macron tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said dialogue will continue. \u201cWe must prevent the worst from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since he was elected president in 2017, Macron has shown a keen interest in forging personal relationships with world leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMacron stands out among European Union leaders with his willingness to be in the spotlight, to drive foreign policy and push things ahead,\u201d said Silvia Colombo, an expert on EU foreign relations at the International Institute in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no other foreign leader that Macron has tried to bring closer to his corner than Putin. Macron was confident that a mixture of personal charm and the splendor of France\u2019s past would convince Putin to keep Russia within the European security habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron first hosted Putin in the Place of Versailles in 2017. Two years later they discussed stalled Ukraine peace talks in Macron\u2019s summer residence on the French Riviera as Macron tried to build on European diplomacy that had helped ease hostilities in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s become clear over the past several weeks that Putin was on the war path even as he denied it, sitting across from Macron at a very long table during his last visit to Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron wanted to believe him, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said after critics claimed the French president has fallen into the old European trap of appeasing Putin\u2019s Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president is not naive,\u201d Le Drian said on the eve of Russia\u2019s invasion. \u201cHe knows the methods, the character and the cynical nature of Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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