The senior advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron was in Moscow on Tuesday to hold talks with Russian officials, a source familiar with the meeting and two diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Emmanuel Bonne has visited Kosovo several times as part of the French mission for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. He was a co-author of the Franco-German plan.
However, he has also been authorized to conduct talks in Moscow, according to Reuters sources, on matters related to Ukraine.
The first source said Emmanuel Bonne, who has led Macron’s diplomatic cell since 2019, met with officials at the Kremlin.
The French presidency neither confirmed nor denied the discussions, stating: “As the President said during his visit yesterday, there are discussions at a technical level with full transparency and in consultation with President Zelensky and key European colleagues.”
Two diplomatic sources added that allies were informed of the initiative and that Bonne held talks with Yuri Ushakov, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron said in December that Europeans would need to re-engage in direct talks with Putin if the latest U.S.-led efforts to broker a peace agreement in Ukraine fail.
European leaders, cautious of Putin’s military ambitions, have been criticized for being excluded from U.S.-led peace negotiations under President Donald Trump’s administration, instead being forced to support Ukraine’s negotiating positions from the sidelines.
On Tuesday, Macron told reporters that efforts are underway to restart dialogue with Putin.
“It is being prepared, and there are discussions taking place at a technical level,” he said, adding that this is being done in consultation with Ukraine.
“It is important that Europeans restore their channels of discussion.”
