Jacques Serais 07:54, February 09, 2022

Emmanuel Macron, back from talks in Moscow, Kiev and Berlin on the Russian-Western crisis linked to Ukraine, called on Tuesday evening to conduct "a demanding dialogue with Russia".

If the Head of State did not obtain a military withdrawal to the Ukrainian border after his diplomatic marathon, for him, the objective is nevertheless fulfilled.

TO ANALYSE

Emmanuel Macron returned to France overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The head of state landed at 12:40 a.m. in Paris, after a diplomatic marathon to try to lower the tension in the Ukrainian crisis.

More than 36 hours of travel, and three capitals: Moscow, Kiev and Berlin on Tuesday evening.

If some progress is to be noted, the president and his European allies remain particularly concerned. 

>> Find the morning of the day in replay and podcast here

Like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who, alongside Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda, sent a message of firmness to Russia.

"Our common goal is to avoid war in Europe. The advance of troops on the Ukrainian borders is extremely worrying. We share the same assessments of the situation and the same positions. Any further violation of territorial integrity and Ukraine's sovereignty would be unacceptable and would have serious political, economic and strategic consequences for Russia," he said.

The objective fulfilled for Emmanuel Macron

Olaf Scholz will travel next week to Moscow and Kiev, when Emmanuel Macron returns to him.

And if the Kremlin has not conceded any military withdrawal - even symbolic - to the Ukrainian border, the French president believes that the objective of this diplomatic marathon is fulfilled.

"It was for me to block the game," he says off the microphone.

"I obtained that there are no degradations."

READ ALSO

- Macron in Berlin: will the path of de-escalation in Ukraine bear fruit?

Above all, he welcomes the promises of Moscow and Kiev to respect the Minsk agreements.

"The re-engagement of this dialogue and the assumption of responsibilities by all partners, as publicly confirmed by Presidents Putin and Zelensky, is the only path that will make peace in Ukraine possible," he said.

The path promises to be long and tortuous but in the meantime, return to national affairs and the presidential election.

Emmanuel Macron slips it to journalists: "We'll have to think about it, at some point."