France denies having expressed a "willingness to dialogue" with Moscow about the war in Ukraine. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed the creation of a billion-dollar assistance fund to be developed over the next five years.
"Moscow must understand that it cannot achieve its goals on the battlefield and so accept a negotiation that recognizes Ukraine as a sovereign and independent nation," he said. The negotiations are only at the beginning and the time horizon for arriving at practical decisions is that of the Washington summit, scheduled for July.