Ukraine's Zelenskyy discussed French President Macron's China visit

Ukraine's embattled leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss his visit to China, the President claimed in a Telegram post. Zelenskyy underscored that he and the French leader discussed the visit prior, as well as outlined the conflict situation on the frontlines and Ukraine’s plans to liberate all of its territories from the Russian occupation.

 "I held an almost 30-minute-long conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. I thanked him for his condemnation of the horrific and inhumane execution of the Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian military criminals," Zelenskyy recalled. 

Zelenskyy, Macron discussed the implementation of Ukraine’s Peace Formula

Furthermore, the Ukrainian leader added that he and Macron "discussed preparations for the NATO summit in Vilnius this July, and the results we expect to see in its wake, including the need to provide effective security guarantees for Ukraine even before our country joins the Alliance." Zelenskyy continued that the two counterparts also talked about "the implementation of Ukraine’s Peace Formula." China had offered a 12-point proposal to end the fighting in Ukraine which was rejected by Ukraine's allies including the US. China's top diplomat indicated at a state presser that the plan would be discussed at the security conference in Munich, Germany.

At the conference later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed scepticism about Beijing's posture in the war, accusing Russia's staunchest ally of providing non-lethal assistance to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort. Blinken questioned China's mediation role saying that the US has intelligence China “is considering providing lethal support" to Russia. China doubled down on the allegation labelling it a “smear” campaign that lacked any evidence. 

France's Emmanuel Macron attracted criticism after he said Europe should not become a “vassal” to US interests and must avoid being drawn into any conflict with China over the Taiwan issue. During the interview after his three-day state visit to China, Macron also noted that he wants to “engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace” in Ukraine. Officials in France claimed that Macron urged Xi to use Beijing's influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to broker peace to the raging conflict in Europe's eastern flank.