Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has stated that Ukraine has sole authority over its negotiations with Russia.

“We are not at war with Russia”;  Macron declared during a speech to the European Parliament on Monday about the continent’s future. “We are battling in Europe to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”; “We also want to bring peace to our continent.” And Ukraine has sole authority over the terms of any negotiations with Russia.”

In an attempt to avert the confrontation, the French president, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin just before Russia’s invasion. Since then, he has spoken with Putin on the phone multiple times.