France's Macron said on February 3 that preparations for meeting with Putin are underway "Discussions are currently underway at the technical level to prepare for this"

The last meeting between Putin and Macron took place on February 8, 2022, only days before Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

Macron earlier called for the EU to start direct talks with the Kremlin as the war in Ukraine goes into a critical stage. The Armed Forces of Russia (AFR) are making steady gains on the battlefield. At the same time Ukraine has been plunged into darkness as Putin attempts to freeze Ukraine into submission during the coldest winter in decades.

Macron’s call has since been echoed by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as a ceasefire deal is tantalisingly close, but remains elusive. Currently, the Ukraine and Russian delegations are at an Abu Dhabi meeting to finalise the details at the first trilateral talks that kicked off on January 24.

Throughout the four-year war, the EU has refused to talk to the Kremlin directly. The last meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Macron took place on February 8, 2022, only days before Russia launched its military. Apart from some individual and unsanctioned meetings by Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, there has been no formal meetings or talks between Brussels and the Kremlin.

The US has made more of an effort. US President Donald Trump has held regular telephone conversations with Putin and the two men met in person at the Alaska summit on August 15.

However, as Ukraine stares defeat in the face, momentum is building amongst EU leaders to meet with Putin in person to bring the war to an end. The Kremlin has also indicated that it is open to direct contact. Putin has offered to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in person, but only if he goes to Moscow. Zelenskiy reciprocated, but saying he would only meet with Putin in Kyiv.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said Europe needs to open direct contact with Moscow to protect its own interests, in an interview with Libération published on February 3.

Barrot said: “Europeans, who are currently Ukraine's main financial and military backers, must have a channel to defend their interests without delegating this responsibility to anyone else… Europe now needs direct contact with Russia in order to defend its own interests,” Barrot said.

Since Trump came into office, the White House has largely cut Europe out of the negotiating process. Barrot said that Paris has not excluded direct dialogue with the Kremlin, but cautioned that French intelligence services continue to see no willingness by Putin to seek a peaceful resolution to conflict. Trump’s step back means the entire burden of supporting Ukraine has fallen on Europe’s shoulders. The cost of the war is running at an estimated $100bn a year and the Trump administration has sent no money at all to Ukraine in the last year.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, the European Union has committed over €85bn ($91.8bn) in aid to Ukraine, including €27bn ($29.2bn) in military support, according to European Commission figures. More recently, a €90bn EU loan was approved in December . That is enough to fund the government for the next two years, according to research by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).

France has supplied air defence systems, armoured vehicles, artillery and training, and Kyiv is expecting a further delivery of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets and missiles, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last week.

Russia’s rapid advances at the end of last year have slowed, but it has made more gains in the last few months than at any time since the war started. Over the month of January Russian net gains in Ukraine were 389km², a modest increase from December, although the months are largely similar. Russian advance in January consisted of incremental gains on multiple fronts, without significant operational achievements. Russia now occupies about a fifth of all Ukraine’s territory.

“The war must be stopped. But if the world, America and Europe, does not have the power to stop Russian strikes, then who will believe there is the power to guarantee that the war will not reignite again?" Zelenskiy said in his evening address on February 3.