French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, marking the first direct contact between the two leaders in nearly three years. The conversation reportedly focused on the war in Ukraine and the escalating situation in the Middle East.
According to a Kremlin readout, Putin told Macron that the Ukraine conflict was “a direct consequence of the policies pursued by Western states, which for many years ignored Russia’s security interests,” and accused the West of creating an “anti-Russia bridgehead” in Ukraine.
The call was the first between the two since September 2022. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, direct communication between Putin and European Union leaders has been limited.
Macron’s outreach represents a notable shift from his previously hardline stance. France has been one of Ukraine’s strongest European backers, with Macron being among the most vocal supporters of deploying Western troops to Ukraine. He first raised the idea in February 2024, but appeared to back away after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office and declined to offer any “backstop” or security guarantees for foreign forces deployed in Ukraine.
The timing of Macron’s call comes just one week after what many observers described as a disappointing NATO summit in The Hague, where European leaders failed to secure a firm commitment from Trump to support Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly received only a vague assurance on whether the U.S. would allow the sale of Patriot missile systems—paid for with European funds—to Kyiv.
The potential for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East, which would likely divert additional U.S. resources away from Europe, may also be motivating European leaders to reassess their diplomatic strategies. Macron's outreach to Putin could reflect a broader recalibration by European powers seeking to engage more pragmatically with Moscow, especially as U.S. focus appears to be shifting away from the European theater.