The Elysee Palace: Putin Lied to both Macron and the World
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lied to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron by promising to refrain from provocative actions in Donbas pending a meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Putin Recognizes the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics as Independent States
This is what an employee of the Elysee Palace told Politico in response to Putin's recognition of the “republics” in Donbas. Macron was the first Western leader to be in Moscow, having several telephone conversations with Putin, while agreeing in principle to talk to Biden. The French leader also insisted that his Russian counterpart commits to de-escalation, at least by not invading Ukraine.
Putin after meeting Macron: Do you want to go to War with Russia?
The Kremlin later denied the allegations. However, the French official claims that Putin lied to both Macron and the world. The president tried to reach a diplomatic solution, although the Russian leader simply used it to voice Russia's grievances and conditions.
“President Putin gave a speech tonight (ed. Last night) that is also political-historical, accusatory, mixing many different considerations, groups and paranoid, which correspond well to the feelings of the President of the Republic in Moscow,” said the official. “The fact is that President Putin did not fulfill the word given to the president of the republic, but also publicly in many interventions he made.”
/Dnevnik