In the first phone call since October 2022, Russian Defense Minister Serghei Shoigu and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu discussed the possibility of talks on the Ukrainian conflict. This was reported by the Moscow ministry after the meeting. "Availability for dialogue on Ukraine was noted. The starting points could be based on the Istanbul Peace Initiative," the ministry said.
However, France denied the reconstruction put forward by Russia on the conversation between the two ministers: in the phone call Shoigu stated that he "was ready to resume the dialogue on Ukraine" but "France has not accepted or proposed anything" on this issue, underlined the entourage of Lecornu to AFP.
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