France Sees ‘New Atmosphere’ as Macron Seeks Better Russia Ties

Defense, foreign ministers make first Russia visit since 2014
Not time to lift sanctions but progress visible, Le Drian says

Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron during a meeting at the Fort de Bregancon, a summer residence of the president of France, on the French Riviera on Aug. 19.
Photographer: Alexei Druzhinin/TASS via Getty Images

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By Gregory Viscusi and Henry Meyer

September 9, 2019 at 1:35 PM UTC

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France’s foreign minister praised a “new atmosphere” that could help to resolve the long-stalled Ukraine conflict as President Emmanuel Macron steps up efforts to repair strained European relations with Russia.

“It’s a new atmosphere which we haven’t seen for many years,” French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a news conference in Moscow on Monday after he and the French defense minister met their Russian counterparts in the first such visit in five years. “That’s why we welcome it.”