Russia's Response to Macron's Dialogue Proposal:
Putin is willing to engage in dialogue with French President Macron.
Macron is the best person for Europe to maintain contact with Russia.
1. In the year when the war between Ukraine and Russia broke out, Macron had been in contact with Putin all along, but he lacked the ability to influence the situation, and the communication was interrupted for three years.
2. After three years, Macron also had a phone call with Putin this July.
3. Among the entire Europe, except for Orbán, Macron is probably the one who has maintained contact with Russia and can keep a rational dialogue. Orbán can communicate, but he cannot even speak in the EU. His previous whirlwind visits to Russia, China, and the US to mediate resulted in complicated travel arrangements and even compromised personal safety. Macrons currently has one-third of the say in the EU, and both China and Russia recognize France as more capable than the EU.
4. If the EU does not talk to Russia, the United States will take their place. Therefore, I bet the EU will strongly support Macron's engagement with Russia this time.
From the perspective of the Ukraine-Russia war, Russia and Europe are the actual parties involved in the conflict, while the US is at most a supplier of military equipment. It is inherently a failure of the EU to let a third party accurately exploit Ukraine as a "bug" and bypass Europe to negotiate.
Either you take the initiative, or you watch the US reap the benefits.
Russia has already responded; now it's up to the EU to seize the opportunity.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1852089647708682/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.