Macron asks Putin to withdraw Russian heavy and light weapons from Zaporizhia
French President Emmanuel Macron told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that “Russian occupation [était] the cause of the risks » weighing on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and he asked it to remove “heavy and light weapons”announced the Elysée in a press release.
Emmanuel Macron “keep in touch” with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, “and will speak again” to Vladimir Putin “in the coming days, so that an agreement can be reached guaranteeing the safety of the plant”added the French presidency.
Earlier, the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin had warned Emmanuel Macron, in a phone call, against the “catastrophic consequences” of the “regular Ukrainian attacks” against this plant, the largest in Europe. During this call, Emmanuel Macron also “condemned the continuation of Russian military operations in Ukraine and recalled its demand that they cease as soon as possible, that negotiations be undertaken and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine be restored”according to the Elysee.
Emmanuel Macron also recalled “that European sanctions do not apply to agricultural products or to those essential to agriculture”. “He asked President Putin to ensure that the agreement reached by Russia with Ukraine and Turkey (…) be implemented in such a way that the grain exported goes to those who need it most urgently”added the French presidency.
The agreement reached on July 22 in Istanbul unblocked Ukrainian wheat and maize exports across the Black Sea, hitherto hampered by the Russian military offensive, raising fears of a food crisis. But Russia says its own food and fertilizer exports continue to suffer from Western sanctions targeting Moscow for its military intervention.
On Wednesday, the Russian leader said that Ukrainian exports went mainly to Europe and not to poor countries.