Lavrov stated that France approached Russia with a proposal to establish dialogue on Ukraine without Kyiv’s involvement

France has repeatedly reached out to Moscow through private channels, offering to facilitate dialogue regarding Ukraine, but without Kyiv’s participation.

This was revealed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Russian and foreign media.

“Our French colleagues have a tendency to take on an initiative-driven role in a variety of issues, and we welcome that. However, as to the outcomes of such initiatives and the sincerity of their intentions to play a positive role, I cannot say. For instance, without going into detail to avoid compromising anyone, there have been several private approaches from our French colleagues: ‘Let’s help, let’s establish a dialogue on the Ukrainian issue.’ Notably, this was proposed without any involvement from Ukraine, effectively bypassing the principle the West frequently emphasizes: ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,’” Lavrov stated.

He added that Moscow is not dismissive of such contacts and is open to listening.

“At the same time, France is the main proponent of deploying so-called peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, is training combat units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on its territory, and openly declares the need to keep pressuring Russia to ensure that Ukraine approaches negotiations from a stronger position. This kind of ambiguous behavior does not inspire confidence in the seriousness of initiatives from our French colleagues,” Lavrov remarked.

Paris and Kyiv have not confirmed these statements. However, French President Emmanuel Macron previously expressed openness to communicating with Vladimir Putin.

It is worth noting that in November, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz contacted the Kremlin by phone.