EU Parliamentarian Praises Macron For 'Tentative' Attempts To Resume Dialogue With Russia

Virginie Joron, a European Parliament member from France, has welcomed the resumption of the Normandy Four talks on Ukraine and President Emmanuel Macron's "tentative" attempts to reinvigorate dialogue with Russia

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2019) Virginie Joron, a European Parliament member from France, has welcomed the resumption of the Normandy Four talks on Ukraine and President Emmanuel Macron's "tentative" attempts to reinvigorate dialogue with Russia.

On Monday, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine met in Paris in the Normandy format after a three-year hiatus to discuss the Donbas crisis settlement. The meeting was also the first time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face. Prior to the meeting, Macron had long been advocating for resuming the Normandy format. He also touched upon the matter with Putin at the talks at Fort de Bregancon in August, which were mainly seen as an attempt to heal ties with Moscow.

"We are obviously happy about the resumption of these [Normandy-format] negotiations. President Emmanuel Macron's recent statement on NATO brain death is to be read in this context. In this case, as in the middle East, there are tentative attempts by the French government to start again the dialogue with Russia," Joron, a member the right-wing National Rally party, told Sputnik.

Yet, to earn trust in "sincerity" of his intentions toward Russia, Macron - jointly with Germany - should "put an end to the sanctions regime, the embargo put in place in Brussels against Russia and our exporters," the lawmaker stated.

Speaking about Ukraine, Joron expressed her belief that the West had somewhat changed its vision of the conflict.

"That said, the National Rally said from the beginning that the referendum in Crimea had been clear. It is on the Donbas that diplomatic efforts are to be made. After years of war, the various protagonists in the West now seem to accept this state of affairs," she added.

Joron also suggested "there are many paths toward further federalization or toward more independence of the Donbas region, whether it following a German, Irish, Flemish, Catalan, Serbian or Finnish model that is chosen." Yet, it is up to Ukrainians and Donbas residents to determine their fate, she added.

As for Zelenskyy, she said that he was "genuinely trying to find a solution" to the crisis.