They don't see themselves as intermediaries.

But in view of the dramatic situation of the people in Ukraine, France and Germany tried again on Saturday to influence Vladimir Putin together.

President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz spent an hour and a half on the phone with the Kremlin chief.

It was the duo's second attempt to press Putin for a ceasefire.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Macron, who has had many one-on-one talks with Putin over the past few weeks, came up with the idea.

The Russian war of aggression shattered the Normandy format, the negotiations between Moscow, Kyiv, Berlin and Paris that began in June 2014 and produced the Minsk Accords.

Macron continues to believe that the Franco-German alliance is essential.

Already on Thursday, shortly before the start of the informal EU summit in Versailles, he organized a video conference.

The most recent conversation at the Elysée Palace has reinforced the pessimistic assessment of the situation.

“Have we detected a will in Vladimir Putin to end the war?

The answer is no,” said the Elysée.

It is expressly pointed out that France does not see its role as that of a mediator.

They have clearly sided with Ukraine, which is not the case with mediators like Turkey and Israel, who do not support sanctions against Russia.

Rather, it is about "holding Putin to account," the Elysée emphasizes.

"Russia's relations with Europe permanently impaired"

In Paris, it was pointed out more and more clearly that, under international law, the encirclement and bombing of the civilian population are considered war crimes.

In Paris, the conviction now prevails that there can be no turning back.

"Russia's relations with Europe will certainly be permanently affected," it said.

The three-way talks also serve to raise awareness in Berlin.

Paris sees the federal government's hesitation in imposing sanctions affecting Russian gas and oil supplies as a signal that the "turning point" announced by Scholz could be more of a catchphrase than a political guideline.

It was repeated several times in Paris that there would be "no taboo" for further sanctions for President Macron.

The debate about the exclusion of Gazprombank and VTB-Bank from the SWIFT payment system is not over, and gas and oil supplies are not taboo either.

The visit of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to the Kremlin was not discussed.

Neither Putin nor Scholz had commented on this.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned his compatriots on Sunday that the war could drag on for months.

"The Russians have already gained experience with the siege strategy," said the Foreign Minister.

He cited Grozny in Chechnya and Aleppo in Syria as precedents.

“First you bomb, fear is fueled, then you set up humanitarian corridors that are not respected, accuse terrorists or Nazis and bomb again.

Then fictitious negotiations are initiated,” said the Foreign Minister.

Between 2012 and 2017, as Defense Minister, the 74-year-old politician played a key role in shaping French sanctions policy after the annexation of Crimea.

At the time, France canceled an arms deal to sell Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia.

Today, Le Drian considers itself lucky that the Russian Navy does not have the modern landing ships that could have been used in aggressive warfare.

Putin: a man “all of muscle and secrets”

Le Drian was intimately privy to the plans that led then-Socialist President François Hollande to uphold the invitation to Putin to attend the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy ("D-Day") celebrations.

Although sanctions against Russia had just started, Hollande had no intention of treating Putin like a pariah.

Instead, he also invited the newly elected President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, to Normandy.

He hatched a four-way meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel at Bénouville Castle.

The night before, he had dinner twice, once with President Barack Obama and a second time with Putin so as not to upset him.

In his memoirs "Les leçons du pouvoir" Hollande describes Putin as "icy and brutal" ,

On June 6, 2014, the so-called Normandy format began, which Merkel and Hollande believed was "an efficient framework for conflict resolution."

Until a month ago, people in the Elysée Palace still hoped that a negotiated solution could be found.

The last meeting took place in Berlin on February 10th.

Now, in the Elysée, when asked whether the Minsk agreements are still relevant, it says: "Missing the subject."