Eurotopics.net

In an interview published in several French regional newspapers, President Emmanuel Macron has warned that humiliating Russia could prevent a diplomatic solution in the war against Ukraine once the fighting ends. He also said he believed France would play a mediating role to end the conflict. Most commentators take a dim view of this stance.

Russia plans to negotiate the establishment of a "grain corridor" with Turkey so that exports of grain, which have been blocked from southern Ukrainian ports for weeks, can resume. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to travel to Ankara on Wednesday to discuss the deal. Reports in the Russian newspaper Izvestia that Moscow has already negotiated a deal with Ankara and Kyiv could not be confirmed. Commentators are disgruntled by the terms of the negotiations.

Russia has been waging its war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022. Although Kyiv has managed to stop the country from being completely overrun, it has lost control of roughly one-fifth of its territory including the areas taken over in 2014 - despite all the weapons and support from the West. If the war continues like this the future looks bleak, commentators fear.