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Macron says France stands for talks with Russia

The Normandy Format talks are the backbone of the Ukraine settlement, the French President also pointed out

PARIS, January 11. /TASS/. Paris stands for maintaining contacts with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

"Regarding Ukraine and Russia, we stand for a European approach that includes firmness about any threat of aggression and maintaining channels for dialogue so that to find ways to defuse tensions," Macron said at a news conference. "Our goal is to find common security architecture for us and our neighbors."

"This is our responsibility along with the work on the Strategic Compass that we will do in the next few weeks and months," Macron went on to say. The Normandy Format talks are the backbone of the Ukraine settlement, he said.

The format of talks that include France, Russia, Germany and Ukraine has existed since June 2014, when the leaders of the countries took the occasion of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the allied Normandy landings to discuss the Donbass conflict for the first time. A total of five summits has taken place since then, with the latest of them in December 2019. Russian Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak on January 6 held a meeting with his German and French counterparts to discuss the format.

On January 1, France took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months.

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France Emmanuel Macron

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