Peskov Reports, Putin-Macron Meeting Was ‘Very Constructive,’ but No De-Escalation Deal Was Negotiated

Feb. 9, 2022 (EIRNS)—Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Feb. 8 that the lengthy meeting the day before between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron had been very constructive, according to TASS. “Very constructive and, indeed, substantive relations have been established between Putin and Macron, which allow them to spend a lot of time interacting with each other.”

Peskov also went out of his way, in a call with reporters on Feb. 8, to deny statements made by unnamed Elysée officials and in press accounts (notably the Financial Times) that Macron had negotiated de-escalation in Ukraine with Putin, including a purported commitment to withdraw Russian troops from Belarus. Peskov made it clear that the central discussion has to be with the United States. The report of a negotiated de-escalation “is wrong in its essence. Moscow and Paris couldn’t do any deals. It’s simply impossible,” Peskov said. “France is a leading country in the EU, France is a member of NATO, but Paris is not the leader there. In this bloc, a very different country is in charge. So what deals can we talk about?”