Putin congratulates Macron on re-election

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on his re-election to a second presidential term.

"Sincerely wish you success in your state activities, as well as good health and well-being," Putin said in a telegram, the text of which was published on the Kremlin website.

Putin and Macron have maintained in general close contact since the latter assumed the presidential office in 2017.

The two leaders met for the first time two weeks after Macron was elected president, and have maintained regular communication since then.

In 2019, Macron invited Putin to Fort de Bregancon for bilateral talks ahead of the G7 meeting, which he hosted the day after the meeting.

In December 2019, Macron organized the last ever meeting of the Normandy Four format (Germany, France, Russia, Ukraine) on the Ukrainian settlement.

In the same year, the Russian president held a meeting with French diplomats on Macron's initiative.

When Russia announced its intention to leave the Council of Europe in 2018 if its rights were not fully restored, Macron insisted on complying with the requirement, stating that "the Russian people recognize European humanism, because they participated in its creation, because Russia's geography, history, and culture are fundamentally European."

However, Macron's position on Ukraine was always tough, since he unequivocally supported its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

After the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Macron had several long phone talks with Putin in an effort to stop the conflict.

During his presidential campaign, he said that if he is re-elected, he would consider continuing the relationship.

Macron won the re-election with 58.54% of the vote, against 41.46% for his rival from the National Rally Marine Le Pen, according to the final results declared by the Interior Ministry. The turnout was 72.37%, lowest since 1969.