French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone conversation on Tuesday — their first in over two and a half years — with Macron calling for an urgent ceasefire in Ukraine, while Putin insisted that Western actions were at the root of the conflict.
The discussion, which lasted over two hours, also covered rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Macron proposed closer cooperation between Paris and Moscow to help de-escalate the situation following a recent ceasefire that ended a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.
Fighting in Ukraine remains intense more than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. On the day of the talks, a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Izhevsk — over 1,000 kilometres from the frontline — left three people dead and dozens wounded, marking one of Kyiv’s deepest strikes into Russian territory.
The French presidency said Macron reaffirmed “France’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and urged the immediate start of negotiations for a durable peace settlement. The Kremlin, however, blamed Western countries for the ongoing war, accusing them of ignoring Russia’s security concerns and turning Ukraine into an “anti-Russian stronghold”.
Putin reportedly told Macron that any peace deal must address the “underlying causes” of the conflict and be based on current territorial realities — a reference to the land Russia now occupies in Ukraine.
On Iran, both leaders agreed to coordinate more closely and remain in contact. Macron reiterated France’s call for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment and recommit to diplomatic negotiations. The French president stressed his determination to find a lasting and stringent agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, ballistic missile development, and broader regional role.
While Russia maintains cordial ties with Iran and supports its right to a civilian nuclear programme, the Kremlin said both leaders agreed that diplomacy should be the sole route for resolving the issue.
This was the first direct conversation between the two presidents since September 2022. Macron had previously made multiple attempts to dissuade Putin from launching the invasion of Ukraine, including a visit to Moscow in early 2022. However, communications ceased as France toughened its stance towards Russia, with Macron later warning that Russian aggression posed a threat to European stability.
The last high-level contact between the two nations came in April 2024, when Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu met to discuss Olympic security in Paris.
While Macron’s call signals renewed diplomatic outreach, peace efforts remain deadlocked. A recent attempt at direct talks last month has not produced any progress, with Russia instead intensifying its military campaign. Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian forces attacked the town of Guliaipole in central Ukraine, resulting in unspecified casualties.
Recent data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War and an AFP analysis indicate that June saw a significant escalation in Russian air strikes and territorial gains, putting Ukraine’s air defences and civilians under increasing pressure.
