French President Emmanuel Macron believes that he has “no reason today to call” Vladimir Putin and points to Russia’s isolation on the international stage.

In an interview with franceinfo, RFI and France 24 media on the sidelines of the summit on a new financial pact in Paris, the French president said: “First Russia needs to stop the war, accept to respect international law.”

And he added that he is not going to take the initiative to start a dialogue anywhere with Vladimir Putin. “I have no reason to call him today. There is a Ukrainian counterattack. The time will come, I hope, for negotiations on Ukraine’s terms. On the contrary, if he calls me to propose something, I will answer, because France has always been a power of facilitation and mediation,” he said.

Emmanuel Macron added that “Russia has put itself in a situation of non-compliance with international law, it has again become in fact the only colonial power of the 21st century by waging an imperial war against its neighbor, Ukraine.”

At the same time, the French president denounced the role played by Russia in Africa, at a time when the African continent is facing a double crisis, the climate crisis and poverty. Russia “is a destabilizing force in Africa, through its private mercenary armies that indulge in brutalizing civilian populations,” Emmanuel Macron explained.

“Evidence for this has been recorded by the United Nations in the Central African Republic regarding Wagner’s action,” he said. “Russia does not play a role beneficial to the international community,” the French president concluded.