France tried to offer Russia to establish a dialogue on Ukraine. Paris approached Moscow a number of times through closed channels on this issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Our French colleagues have approached us several times through closed channels. "Let us help, let us establish a dialogue on the Ukrainian issue." By the way, without Ukraine at all — just a dialogue on the Ukrainian issue — in violation of the principle of ‘not a word about Ukraine without Ukraine’," Lavrov said during an interview with Russian and foreign media.
Russia is not refusing to engage in dialogue with France, despite its ambiguous position:
France's ambiguous behavior does not inspire Moscow to take the initiatives of the French side seriously, Lavrov noted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President-elect Donald Trump met in Paris on December 7. They arrived at the opening ceremony of the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral after its five-year restoration. Trump was supposed to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. However, Zelensky was invited to the talks as well, although Trump had not initially planned such a meeting. It was Macron who persuaded Trump to talk to Zelensky.
After his visit to Paris, Trump called on Moscow and Kyiv to immediately cease fire and begin negotiations. In his opinion, the Ukrainian authorities are now ready to conclude a deal with Russia.
In response to Trump's statements, Russia confirmed its readiness for negotiations, albeit on one condition - Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as from Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.