Vladimir Putin, Emmanuelle Macron in first talks since 2022
Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin have spoken for the first time in two and a half years, with the French president urging a ceasefire in Ukraine but the Russian blaming the war on the West.
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Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin on Tuesday spoke by telephone for the first time in over two-and-a-half years, with the French president urging a ceasefire in Ukraine but the Russian leader hitting back that the West was to blame for the conflict.
The talks lasted for more than two hours and Mr Macron and Mr Putin agreed to hold more contacts on Ukraine and Iran in the future, the French presidency said.
Mr Macron “emphasised France’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “called for the establishment, as soon as possible, of a ceasefire and the launch of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia for a solid and lasting settlement of the conflict”, said the Elysee Palace.
A Kremlin statement said Mr Putin reminded Mr Macron that “the Ukrainian conflict is a direct consequence of the policy of Western states”.
Mr Putin added that Western states had “for many years ignored Russia’s security interests” and “created an anti-Russian bridgehead in Ukraine”.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin told the French president that any peace deal should be “comprehensive and long-term, provide for the elimination of the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and be based on new territorial realities.”
Mr Macron’s call with Mr Putin comes as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stalled in recent weeks.
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UKRAINE LAUNCHES DEADLY STRIKE BEHIND RUSSIAN FRONT LINE
Ukrainian drones attacked the Russian city of Izhevsk on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding dozens in one of the deepest strikes inside Russia of the three-year conflict, authorities said.
Izhevsk, more than 1,000 kilometres from the front line, has arms production facilities including factories that make attack drones and the world-famous Kalashnikov rifle.
A Ukraine security services source said Kyiv had targeted an Izhevsk-based drone manufacturer and that the attack had disrupted Moscow’s “offensive potential”.
Unverified videos posted on social media showed at least one drone buzzing over the city, while another showed a ball of flames erupt from the roof of a building.
Over 9000 Shahed drones have been built at this plant in Russia's city of Izhevsk, and it's been violently detonating all day.
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) July 1, 2025
Even a 1300km distance from Ukraine is no longer safe for Russia's rapidly shrinking defense capacity. pic.twitter.com/U7tjsPa4wT
The region’s head said the drones hit an industrial “enterprise”, without giving detail.
“Unfortunately, we have three fatalities. We extend our deepest condolences to their families,” Alexander Brechalov, head of the Udmurt Republic, where Izhevsk is located, wrote on Telegram.
“I visited the victims in the hospital. At the moment, 35 people have been hospitalised, 10 of whom are in serious condition.”
Russian forces in turn struck the town of Guliaipole in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, causing “casualties and fatalities”, Ukraine’s southern defence forces said, without specifying numbers.
UKRAINE TO BRING BACK LANDMINES
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree putting his war-torn country on track to leave an international anti-landmine treaty, according to a document published on his website.
The Ottawa Convention bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using antipersonnel mines, which are designed to be buried or hidden on the ground.
They often leave victims mutilated if they are not immediately killed, and unexploded mines cause long-term risks for civilians.
Australia signed the convention in 1997 and ratified it in 1999.
A Brisbane construction worker and father of two who heroically signed up to fight as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine tragically lost a leg after standing on a Russian landmine in December.
Casey Gadaleta, 38, who had no prior military experience, had been fighting in Ukraine since March 2024.
Russia “is extremely cynical in its use of antipersonnel mines,” Mr Zelensky said in his daily address.
“This is the trademark of Russian killers – to destroy life by any means at their disposal,” he added.
More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, though neither the United States nor Russia have joined.
To enter into force, the decision still must be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament and notified to the United Nations.
The withdrawal would normally come into effect six months after the notification.
But according to the convention itself, if “on the expiry of that six-month period, the withdrawing state party is engaged in an armed conflict, the withdrawal shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict.”
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine – more than three years into Moscow’s invasion – was “aware of the complexities of the withdrawal procedure when it is carried out in wartime.” “We are taking this political step and thus sending a signal to all our partners on what to focus on,” he added.
Confronted with the invasion, “Ukraine is compelled to give unconditional priority to the security of its citizens and the defence of the state,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
It said the decision to withdraw was “difficult but necessary” in order to “protect our land from occupation, and our people from horrific Russian atrocities.”.
The move follows similar decisions by Kyiv’s allies Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all neighbours of Russia.
In March, human rights groups condemned their intention to pull out from the convention.
TWO KILLED, CHILDREN WOUNDED BY RUSSIAN DRONES
A Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odessa has killed two people and wounded 14, including children, local authorities said.
Moscow has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine and peace talks initiated by the United States to end the three-year conflict have stalled.
“Rescuers pulled the bodies of two people from the rubble who died as a result of a hostile drone strike on a residential building,” Odessa Governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.
The night-time strike wounded 14 people, Kiper said, adding that “three of them children.” Separately, authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region said one person was killed and three others were wounded in Russian strikes over the past day.
“Russian troops targeted critical and social infrastructure and residential areas in the region,” the Kherson’s governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Russia’s offensive, which has forced millions from their homes and devastated much of eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war. The Russian defence ministry said its air defence had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Moscow also said it had captured another village in the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has claimed as part of Russia since late 2022.
Russia has demanded Ukraine cede more land and give up Western military support as a precondition to peace – terms Kyiv says are unacceptable.
PUTIN SAYS HE’S OPEN TO PEACE TALKS
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and Ukraine’s demands for peace were “absolutely contradictory”, after two rounds of peace talks have failed to bring the sides closer to an elusive ceasefire.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators swapped memorandums outlining their visions for how to end the three-year conflict at peace talks in Istanbul this month.
But other than large-scale prisoner exchanges, the talks have failed to result in any progress toward ending the fighting, triggered by Russia launching its military offensive in February 2022.
“As for the memorandums, as expected, nothing surprising happened … these are two absolutely contradictory memorandums,” Putin said at a press conference in Minsk, Belarus.
“That’s why negotiations are being organised and conducted, in order to find a path to bringing them closer together,” he said.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Russia’s offensive, which has forced millions from their homes and devastated much of eastern Ukraine.
At talks, Russia has demanded Ukraine cede even more land and give up Western military support as a precondition to peace – terms Kyiv says are unacceptable.
Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire and has escalated his aerial attacks as his army advances across the battlefield, capturing more territory beyond the five Ukrainian regions Russia claims to have annexed.
He said the two sides would “continue further contact” after prisoner exchanges agreed at the June 2 talks had been completed.
The two sides have conducted several swaps since agreeing to each free more than 1,000 captured soldiers – all wounded, ill or under 25.
Russia is also ready to hand over the bodies of 3,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, Putin said.
He also acknowledged some economic pressure from the military campaign, which has seen Russia massively increase its spending on weapons and soldiers.
“6.3 per cent of Russia’s GDP goes on defence needs. That is 13.5 trillion roubles ($172 billion),” Putin said.
“It’s a lot,” Putin said, acknowledging it had the potential to create headaches for the government budget.
“We paid for it with inflation, but now we are fighting this inflation,” he added.
At the press conference following a meeting with allies in Belarus, Putin also denounced the “aggressive” pledge by NATO members to increase their defence spending to five per cent of GDP.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Vladimir Putin, Emmanuelle Macron in first talks since 2022