French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le DrianPARIS, Mar 7It is necessary to maintain a channel of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of the situation around Ukraine, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. France 2 TV channel. Against the backdrop of conversations between world leaders and Putin, including French President Emmanuel Macron, the diplomat stressed that an important topic has now emerged — ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine. On Sunday, Macron, following conversations with Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, said that the parties are working to preserve the integrity of Ukraine's civilian nuclear facilities. As the Kremlin press service reported earlier, Putin told Macron that the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian security unit with personnel continue to ensure the operation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The Russian leader also noted that he was not against a meeting in the IAEA-Russia-Ukraine format, but not in Chernobyl, but in the format of a video conference or in a third country. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, the civilian population is not in danger. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the Russian President emphasized.
