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Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to engage in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron over the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Sunday.
Putin has “expressed readiness to engage in dialogue with Macron,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti, adding that any talks would require “mutual political will.”
Macron said earlier this week that Europe should consider re-engaging Putin to help bring the nearly four-year conflict to an end.
“I believe that it’s in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find the right framework to re-engage this discussion” in the coming weeks, Macron said.
The comments came after European Union leaders agreed Friday to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to cover looming budget shortfalls as the war approaches its fourth year. The bloc, however, failed to reach agreement on directly using frozen Russian assets to finance the support.
Putin said Friday that the E.U. is “not succeeding in carrying out” plans to expropriate Russian assets, arguing the effort is stalling because of the severe consequences it would entail.
Commenting at an annual news conference in Moscow, Putin rejected the term “theft” to describe the proposed seizure, calling it “robbery.”
“Theft is a secret appropriation, while they are trying to do it openly. It’s robbery,” he said, warning of “dire consequences for the robbers.”
Putin said such actions would undermine confidence in the global financial system and damage trust in the eurozone.
“It’s not only a blow to the image, it is also undermining global trust,” he said, adding that once such a precedent is set, it could be applied to other countries under different pretexts.
He argued that many countries store their gold and currency reserves in the eurozone and are closely watching the debate.
“They are already watching, already having suspicions, doubts and fears,” Putin said. “Once you start, it becomes easier to replicate under various pretexts.”
Putin said Russia would continue to defend its interests primarily through the courts and would seek jurisdictions it considers independent.
He also warned that using frozen Russian assets as loan guarantees would increase national debts and add pressure to already strained European budgets.
“Apart from reputational losses, there may be direct losses affecting the fundamental principles of the modern financial world order,” he said. “And most importantly, whatever they steal and however they do it, sooner or later they will have to give it back.”
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