Extraordinary row between Macron and Putin four days before war in Ukraine is revealed – to Moscow’s anger: French leader destroys invasion plan … then Vladimir ended the conversation by saying: ‘I’m in the gym’
- Leaders held a fiery phone call on Feb. 20 as Macron tried to prevent war
- Macron accused Putin of breaking the law by giving power to separatists
- The details of the confidential conversation have been revealed in a French documentary
- Sergei Lavrov said the publication is a violation of ‘diplomatic etiquette’
Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin Four days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine suffered a furious phone failure, a bomb recording has revealed.
The French president criticized his counterpart over suggestions that he should negotiate with pro-Russian separatists and at one point exclaimed: ‘I don’t know where your lawyers learned the law!’
The tense exchange ended with Putin declaring that he is at the gym about to play ice hockey after requesting a meeting with Joe Biden†
The details of the confidential call of February 20 were revealed by the broadcaster France 2 in a documentary on the French president’s handling of the conflict, which will air on Thursday.
The next day, Putin declared that Russia recognized the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic and began the full-scale invasion on the morning of February 24.
In the exchange, in which Putin is found limber in a gymnasium, Putin describes the 2014 revolution that brought pro-Western leaders to power in Ukraine as a coup and accuses Volodymyr Zelensky of refusing to engage in dialogue with pro-Russian leaders. separatists.
Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin had a furious phone outage just four days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine
The conversation opens with Macron seeking clarity about Putin’s “intentions” and what “beneficial actions” could prevent an all-out war.
The Russian strongman then takes a swipe at Zelensky, who he accuses of “lying” about the Minsk Accords, a deal signed in 2014 that aimed and failed to end the war in the Donbas.
Putin claims separatists in the region have tried diplomatically to negotiate with Ukraine and have tried to “open a constructive dialogue” with Zelensky, who declined to talk to them.
Putin also encourages Macron to negotiate with the separatists, but reacts angrily: ‘It is not separatists who are going to propose Ukrainian laws!’
Putin counters: ‘Of course we have a very different view of the situation.’
The tense discussion ended with Putin declaring that he is at the gym playing ice hockey after ignoring requests to meet with Joe Biden.
The French president launches back: ‘I don’t know where your lawyer learned the law! Me, I just look at the lyrics and I try to apply them!
“I don’t know which lawyer can tell you that in a sovereign country the legal texts are proposed by separatist groups and not by the democratically elected authorities.”
An enraged Putin then replies: ‘This is not a democratically elected government. They came to power through a coup d’état, people were burned alive, it was a massacre and Zelensky is one of those responsible.’
When the Kremlin leader Macron again proposed to negotiate with the separatists, the Frenchman exclaimed: ‘We don’t care about the separatists’ proposals.’
In an effort to calm the fiery discussion, Macron proposes a meeting with Biden, who appears to be turning down Putin without a set date and agreement.
Putin and Macron are far apart in the Kremlin on Feb. 7, 13 days before their fiery phone call
The Western leader also calls on everyone to “be calm” and says he will ask the same of Zelensky and Ukrainian troops.
Macron asked Putin to end the military exercises in which tens of thousands of Russian troops piled up at the border and conducted war games in Belarus.
Putin replied non-committally that they would “probably” end tonight. Four days later they entered Ukraine.
At the end of the conversation, Macron proposes to issue a press release that Putin and Biden would meet “in principle”.
But Putin replies lightly: “To be honest, I wanted to play ice hockey because here I am talking to you from the gym before I start doing physical exercises. I call my advisors first.’
Putin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had nothing to be ashamed of about the content of the conversation, but called the publication a violation of “diplomatic etiquette.”
He said: ‘Basically, we conduct the negotiations in such a way that we never have to be ashamed of anything. We always say what we think and are ready to answer these words and explain our position.”
Since the outbreak of the war, Macron has continued to position himself as Europe’s peacemaker, holding talks with Putin while most other Western leaders shun him.
But his efforts to reach a ceasefire have so far failed, and he’s been up in arms for trying to negotiate with a warmonger.