Macron Unlikely To Make Kiev Fulfill Minsk Agreements - Italian Politician

French President Emanuel Macron is unlikely to make Kiev fulfill the Minsk agreements and become the deciding factor in resolving the Ukraine issue, contrary to his ambition, Andrea Picchielli, a member of Italy's Lega party, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2022) French President Emanuel Macron is unlikely to make Kiev fulfill the Minsk agreements and become the deciding factor in resolving the Ukraine issue, contrary to his ambition, Andrea Picchielli, a member of Italy's Lega party, told Sputnik.

On Monday, Macron held six-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and presented his vision of a new European security architecture. Media reported that the French president did not consult his EU or NATO partners before making the proposals, among which was the allocation of a neutral status to Ukraine. The following day, Macron met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev.

Macron described his trip as successful, saying he had achieved his goal of preventing an escalation of the conflict and opening up new perspectives.

"The presidents of France and Russia debated for six hours in Moscow, but no decisive progress was made. The head of the Elysée spoke of a possible convergence on some proposals, while the Kremlin spokesman described the situation as 'too complex to expect results after just one interview'," Picchielli said.

Macron is using foreign policy to boost his ratings domestically ahead of the April election, the politician noted. Moreover, the French president may see the current situation as an opportunity to propel himself as a European leader after Angela Merkel stepped down from the political scene, he added.

"I am skeptical that Olaf Scholz, the socialist chancellor (of Germany) leading a 'traffic light' majority together with the Greens and Liberals, can continue to exercise that leadership in Europe as Angela Merkel has for the last sixteen years. If at first there was talk of a sort of competition between Emmanuel Macron and (Italian Prime Minister) Mario Draghi for the role of the new EU leader, now there is more of a Paris-Rome axis, especially after the Treaty of Quirinale between Italy and France," Picchielli said.

Macron, who has insisted for years on a greater 'strategic autonomy' of the EU in foreign and security policy, won't be able change the status quo in the EU's relations with the United States given the "strong Atlantic credentials" of Italy and Draghi in particular, the Italian politician pointed out.

"Macron has repeatedly proposed a 'new security architecture' on the continent to be negotiated with Russia. The problem is that the political project is not shared by the European partners of Paris, who fear a French plan to weaken NATO, and Putin," Picchielli said.

Moscow also sees no reason to discuss a Ukrainian resolution with European countries due to their differing positions on the matter and prefers to engage directly with Washington, according to the politician.

"Macron and Zelenskyy agree on the importance for the peace process of restoring diplomatic dialogue between countries in the so-called Normandy format (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine). But this format is not working as it is not meeting for a long time, longer than a year - the leaders of the 'Quartet of Normandy' last met for a video conference in November 2020," Picchielli said, adding that Kiev does not see the Minsk agreements as advantageous to it and fears losing its sovereignty over the breakaway Donbas region.

Even though France has a central role in the Normandy format, Macron is unlikely to make it work and ensure that Kiev follows the Minsk deal because "he is not a leader such as Angela Merkel, who was the only one capable of making it work," Picchielli concluded.