On December 19, following the European Union summit in Brussels, Macron emphasized that finding a suitable format for negotiations with Moscow serves the interests of European countries. He stressed that either a long-term peace will be achieved during the current discussions, or European leaders will have to re-establish dialogue with Russia, which should occur in cooperation with Ukraine.
The French president added that "it would be useful to restore communication with Vladimir Putin." Otherwise, as he pointed out, European leaders may find themselves in a situation where they can only negotiate among themselves and with the United States, which will then decide how to act regarding Moscow, a scenario he considers "not quite optimal."
These statements by Macron were made after a 16-hour summit of EU leaders, during which the fate of about 200 billion euros frozen in the accounts of the Central Bank of Russia was discussed. However, the parties could not reach an agreement regarding their confiscation.
As a result of the summit, a measure was adopted to provide Ukraine with an interest-free loan of 90 billion euros as reparations, financed through borrowing without using Russia's sovereign assets.
