How many heads of state discuss the war in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin? According to Stanislas Guerini, the general delegate of La République en Marche, there would be only one leader in the world who argues with the Kremlin: “Today Emmanuel Macron is the only head of state who continues to speak with Vladimir Putin, at Putin’s request, moreover, it must be note”he said on Public Senate Monday, March 7.
Should we continue to talk with Putin? “We must keep this channel at all costs. Today, @EmmanuelMacron is the only head of state who continues to speak to him, at Putin’s request. This should be noted,” says @StanGuerini #HelloHome pic.twitter.com/sAlZUSd1g7
— Public Senate (@publicsenat) March 7, 2022
What Stanislas Guerini asserts is false. If we look at Vladimir Putin’s diary, which is published on the Kremlin website, we can read that since the start of the war two weeks ago, the Russian president has received 24 visits or calls from abroad. And there are only four where Emmanuel Macron was on the other end of the line.
Who is Vladimir Putin talking to? First, there are several friendly countries, such as Belarus or Kazakhstan. A little further, there is Syria or Venezuela. According to Kremlin reports, these countries support or approve of Moscow’s action.
Among the countries that weigh more on the international scene, there is in particular China, which called the day after the offensive for a conversation “constructive and friendly” according to Russia. We can also add to the list: the visit to Moscow this weekend by the Israeli Prime Minister who is trying to mediate just like the Turkish President or the Indian Prime Minister, who both picked up their phones to discuss with the President Russian.
On the side of Westerners, the line is not completely cut. If there was no direct call with Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin spoke with Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, and with Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor.
However, Emmanuel Macron remains a particular interlocutor. Along with the Israeli Prime Minister, the French President is the head ofEtat with which Vladimir Putin has spoken the most since the beginning of the crisis. This can be explained in particular because France took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union at the beginning of the year, but also because the two leaders know each other well. Vladimir Putin was the first leader ofEtat received by Emmanuel Macron after his election. And since 2017, around forty telephone conversations between the two men have been recorded on the Elysée site, not counting meetings such as the last visit, just before the war, around a very long table in the Kremlin.