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Anne-Claire Legendre reminds us that we have “seen, on other grounds, Russia play the game of negotiation to gain time”.
“We will judge actions, not announcements”reacted Anne-Claire Legendre, spokesperson for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday March 30 on franceinfo, while Russia has undertaken to reduce the fighting around kyiv and Cherniguiv in Ukraine, to the outcome of peace talks in Istanbul. “We have to be very careful about the assessment we make of the progress of the negotiations (…) We have seen several rounds in the past which did not yield any results”she pointed out.
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“We have also seen, on other grounds, Russia play the game of negotiation to save time, to maintain a certain confusion in the minds of public opinion, so we have to assess all that”, explains Anne-Claire Legendre. Emmanuel Macron “will do so by discussing very soon with President Zelensky”, specifies the spokesperson for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
While Russia promises a de-escalation in the conflict, Anne-Claire Legendre urges caution. “Maybe Russia is just making a virtue of necessity”asks the spokesperson for the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. “What we see today is that the Russian offensive has encountered a number of obstacles, internal logistical obstacles but also Ukrainian resistance that it had not anticipated. (…) We will judge the actions and not the announcements.
“Mariupol continues to be under an absolutely atrocious blockade for the populations, Kharkiv has been bombarded, Mykolaiv has again suffered strikes.”
Anne-Claire Legendre, spokesperson for the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairsat franceinfo
While Ukraine is asking, within the framework of negotiations with Russia, for an international agreement to guarantee its security, Anne-Claire Legendre believes that “We have not yet arrived at the time when it will be a question of entering into this collective logic. For the moment, these negotiations are two-sided between Russia and Ukraine.”