Emmanuel Macron ready for dialogue with Putin when necessary

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready for dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin whenever necessary.

Speaking at the press conference following the NATO summit in Madrid, Macron stressed that he communicates with Putin more frequently than his American counterpart Joe Biden. He did not rule out the next talks with the President of Russia.

"That's normal if our discussions with the Russian president have varying degrees of intensity,” Macron said. "I always conduct my discussions with Putin openly and maintain coordination with [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelensky, with European partners and allies. I will conduct such negotiations every time when it is justifiable, because I believe that this is the responsibility of France,” Emmanuel Macron said.

French weapons in Ukraine should not be used to strike Russia

Macron also said that the weapons that Paris supplied to Kyiv should never be used to attack Russian territory.

"We will continue to arm and train within the existing operational framework: never attack the territory of the Russian Federation, but help protect the territory of Ukraine and support its army,” Macron said.

Earlier, Macron said that NATO countries would strengthen economic, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. According to him, alliance members decided to increase the eastern flank of the French military contingent — Paris will deploy a new brigade in Romania.

On June 29, the leaders of NATO member countries adopted a new strategic concept, in which Russia was officially recognized as the greatest threat to the security of the North Atlantic Alliance.