LEAK: Putin, Macron Had Testy Talk Before Ukraine Invasion
Vladimir Putin may think he’s subtle, but he is not.
The former KGB agent has been performing this quirky impression of a C-grade Bond villain for decades now, almost winking and nodding his way through predictably tyrannical solutions to uniquely Russian problems for as long as he’s been able to sniff the seat of power.
For instance, it was no secret that he would invade Ukraine, and he barely tried to hide it, only scoffing at those who dared to point out the massive troop buildups on the border, and the leaked transmissions among his military leaders that pointed to a coming war.
And now another leaked conversation seems to show that French President Emmanuel Macron wasn’t falling for any of Putin’s excuses in those pre-invasion moments either.
Just four days before Moscow’s forces attacked Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron had a furious argument over the phone, with the Russian strongman claiming that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was lying to the French president, according to a bombshell leak.
Details of the confidential exchange between the two world leaders on Feb. 20 were revealed in a new documentary about Macron’s handling of the ongoing conflict, titled “A President, Europe and War,” which premiered last week on channel France 2.
The two were heated.
As Russia was in the process of massing its forces in preparation for the full-scale invasion in late February, Macron called his Russian counterpart to offer his views on the escalating situation and discuss “useful actions” to defuse it.
Putin quickly turned the conversation to “our dear colleague Mr. Zelensky,” accusing the Ukrainian president of “lying” to Macron about his intention to implement the Minsk Accords, which had sought to end the war in the Donbas region.
Putin then took issue with Zelensky’s apparent refusal to negotiate with pro-Kremlin Ukrainian separatists, which infuriated the French president and prompted him to exclaim in audible frustration: “I don’t know where your lawyer learned law!”
Macron questioned the qualifications of Putin’s lawyers during a tense exchange over Russia’s proposal that Ukraine negotiate with pro-Kremlin separatists.
He then added: “I don’t know what lawyer will be able to tell you that in a sovereign country, the texts of laws are proposed by separatist groups and not by the democratically elected authorities.”
Advertisement - story continues belowPutin fired back at his French counterpart, arguing that Zelensky’s government was not democratically elected.
“They came to power in a bloody coup, with murders and arsons and people being burned alive,” Putin told Macron.
Zelensky, a former comedian and actor, was elected in a landslide victory in 2019 by drawing more than 73 percent of the votes.
As the verbal spat became more heated, Macron told Putin he doesn’t “give a damn about the separatists’ proposals” because they fall outside of the law.
Putin has offered a bevy of strange justifications for his invasion of Ukraine, none of which have been deemed legitimate by the international community.
