After a telephone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Putin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mood remains “resolute” according to a source at the Elysee Palace.
The source said that since the three leaders last spoke on Thursday, Putin appears to still be “determined to achieve his goals in Ukraine,” but the fact that he continues to speak with French and German leaders suggests that “it does not rule out the possibility of a diplomatic solution altogether”.
A source close to Macron and familiar with the conversation told CNN’s Jim Acosta that Macron was frustrated by Putin’s “insincerity” during the call, but that the French president remained committed to diplomatic solutions to end the conflict, including coordinated sanctions, Russia’s ban on activity. in the international community, as well as “an ongoing tough and frank dialogue”.
Earlier Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Macron to put pressure on Putin for a ceasefire and raise the issue of detaining the mayor of Melitopol. The source said Macron and Scholz did it.
“We were in favor of an immediate ceasefire,” the source said, “and for the start of negotiations on three points: issues relating to security, those relating to the sovereignty of Ukraine, and, thirdly, those issues that have recently been raised by both Ukraine and and Russia.”
Further sanctions are planned by both the G7 and the European Union, the source said. New European sanctions will be discussed next week in Brussels and will aim to sanction the recent actions of Russian troops in Ukraine, the siege of Mariupol and the advance of Russian troops along the Dnieper.
Asked about the possibility of European sanctions on Russian energy exports, the source reiterated what Macron had said at the leaders’ summit in Versailles on Friday that there were no “taboos” and no options were being considered.
Jim Acosta of CNN contributed to this report.