Putin has 'two fingers up' with strikes during G7 says Ellwood
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The extraordinary remark came in February – four days before Russia’s began its brutal invasion of Ukraine – at the end of a call in which the French President was making a last-ditch attempt to prevent the war. The call ended with Mr Macron suggesting to Putin a last-minute summit with the US President. Vladimir Putin was not against the idea of talks but at the same time did not appear interested in fixing a date while insisting that the meeting should be fully prepared.
He said: “To be honest, I wanted to go play ice hockey.
“Here I am talking to you from the sports hall before starting the physical exertion. But first I will talk with my advisors.”
The incredible admission from the confidential conversation between heads of state came with Emmanuel Macron and his team filmed at the Elysee taking the call.
Reporters were later briefed by the Elysee that an agreement in principle had been reached for talks between Putin and Biden, but this never took place.
The startling footage will be aired on Thursday on France 2 TV as the centrepiece of a documentary ‘A President, Europe and the War’ that focuses on Mr Macron’s handling of the Ukraine war.
At the beginning of the phone call, he bluntly asked Putin: “I would like you to first give me your reading of the situation and perhaps quite directly, as is our habit, tell me what your intentions are.”
Putin imply replied: “What can I say? You yourself see what is happening while accusing Ukraine of damaging the Minsk accords that reduced the scale of a conflict that first erupted eight years ago.
He launched a furious attack against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and alleged: “In fact our dear colleague Mr Zelensky is doing nothing” to apply the Minsk accords.
“He is lying to you,” while also accusing Mr Macron of looking to revise Minsk.
The French President hit back: “I don’t know if your legal advisor has learned law! As for me I just look at the texts and I try to apply them.”
Putin then claimed the propositions of separatists in eastern Ukraine should be taken into account, to which Mr Macron snapped: “But we don’t care about the propositions from the separatists.”
But despite tension filling the air throughout the call, the French leader also said he would urge Mr Zelensky to “calm down everyone” – not just in the Ukrainian armed forces, but also on social media.
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He warned Putin: “Do not give in to provocations of any kind in the hours and days to come.”
As they have always done in their conversations both men use the informal form of ‘you’ to address each other.
The final words between the pair were relatively calm, with Mr Macron concluding: “Thank you in any case Vladimir. We will stay in touch in real time. When there is something call me.
Putin then bizarrely slipped into French, and replied: “I thank you Mr President.”
The two leaders would speak again just 24 hours later but Russia then launched its invasion of Ukraine just a few days later on February 24.
Mr Macron continued attempts to broker a peace deal, holding further calls with Putin invasion began – including on the day the war began – but those exchanges have now all but stopped.
The French President told the film makers: “We did not convince him and he invaded Ukraine.
“I thought that we could find, through confidence and intellectual discussion, a path with Putin.”
Despite making early efforts with Putin to find a way of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, Mr Macron also came under fire for only making a trip to Kyiv last week to meet President Zelensky.
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