Hear the conversation between Putin and Macron – just before the invasion

When the conversation took place among world leaders at the beginning of the year, it was rewritten around the world. Then the Reuters news agency reported that The leaders agreed About the search for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Vladimir Putin’s voice in the recording of the phone call is heard as positive “in principle” to Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to meet with US President Joe Biden.

In the clip, you can see the delight of French advisers when Putin appears open to dialogue. Four days later, Russia invaded Ukraine, and no summit was ever held.

Russian criticism – contrary to “diplomatic etiquette”

The conversation with Putin is one of many between President Macron and several world leaders depicted in the documentary. Allowing a documentary filmmaker to join in and photograph the president in talks is described as unusual, with the Elysee Palace notorious for not allowing the media to come close.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized that the secret conversation between the two presidents appears in the documentary. He said in a press conference that this goes against “diplomatic etiquette.”

Macron and Putin met and spoke by phone several times before and after the invasion of Ukraine. However, the French president’s attempts to mediate the conflict have so far been unsuccessful.

The documentary Guy Lagache, with the original title Un président, l’Europe et la guerreIt has now been published for the first time in Sweden.

Watch the full documentary When Macron called Putin Play SVT.