MOSCOW, February 7./TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving a visit from his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Kremlin. The talks began with the observance of anti-coronavirus measures.

Putin and Macron did not shake hands as they met. They took their seats at a distance from each other - on the opposite sides of the oval table. The same option for the talks was chosen last week when the Russian leader met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

It is expected that after the one-on-one talks, the Russian and French leaders will continue their conversation at a working lunch, after which they will give a news conference.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov expects a rather substantive, long discussion, extensive in terms of time and content. According to him, tensions in Europe due to the situation around Ukraine and security guarantees to Russia will dominate the talks. Peskov stressed that the situation is too difficult to expect a breakthrough during just one meeting. On February 15, one more partner in the Normandy Four dialogue, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is expected in Moscow.