No major breakthroughs expected from Putin-Macron meeting: Kremlin spokesman

Moscow says it expects no major breakthroughs from a forthcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, stressing that the talks are nonetheless very important in resolving tensions over Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks at a press briefing ahead of talks between the Russian and French leaders in the capital, Moscow, on Monday.

"The situation is too complex to expect decisive breakthroughs in the course of one meeting," he said, adding that Russia was aware of certain ideas for lowering tensions that Macron had spoken about before and planned to share with Putin.

"Macron told Putin himself that he is coming with certain ideas to find possible options to ease tensions in Europe," Peskov said.

"Let's wait for the results of today's meeting and see how the two presidents will evaluate it during the news conference," he added.

The Kremlin spokesman further pointed out that Macron's visit to Russia was "very important," noting that the two sides "will obviously focus on the tensions in Europe amid the situation around Ukraine, touch upon the security guarantees and everything relating to these main issues."

Therefore, he said, a "very substantive and lengthy" discussion is expected when the two leaders meet later in the day.

Peskov emphasized that Moscow had heard nothing new in recent days on the security guarantees it is requesting, adding that "our Western interlocutors prefer not to mention this topic" and instead "they prefer to talk very passionately about the problem of the looming Russian attack on Ukraine."

MG