Belarus reports phone call between Lukashenko and Macron

Belarus has claimed that the French side has initiated a phone call between President Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

Source: BelTA, a Belarusian state-owned news outlet, citing Lukashenko’s press service; European Pravda

Quote: “A phone call between the presidents of Belarus and France, Alexander Lukashenko and Emmanuel Macron, has taken place today at the initiative of the French side.”

Details: Macron and Lukashenko reportedly discussed “regional issues and Belarus’s relations with the EU and France in particular”.

The French president’s office has not yet commented on the call.

Background:

In December, Macron said the Europeans should resume direct talks with Putin. European leaders, cautious of Putin’s military ambitions, were frustrated at being excluded from peace talks led by the US administration under Donald Trump.
In February, Macron told journalists that efforts to restore dialogue with Putin at a technical level were underway, adding that these discussions were conducted in consultation with Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he supported the idea of dialogue with Russia, but on the condition that interactions like this do not interfere with the negotiation process on ending the war.