MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron, who earlier expressed a wish to hold a telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, should just call him instead of making a big public display about "preparations" for the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Macron announced three weeks ago: ‘I will call Putin but I need to make preparations.’ Later, they said technical work had to be done for a call with Putin to happen. Well, this is not serious. If you want to make a call, do it. Such experienced leaders usually report their conversations after those take place. But these kinds of announcements look like preparations for a show where the audience needs to be warmed up," the top diplomat told NTV television.

Macron stated on January 6 that he planned to hold a conversation with Putin as soon as possible. On February 6, the French president noted that technical preparations for the call were underway.

Macron announced in December 2025 following a European Union summit in Brussels that the time had come for Europe to resume dialogue with Russia. In his view, the current format of talks on Ukraine, where US officials and Russia discuss the terms for settling the conflict without the Europeans "is not the best one."