President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron.
The heads of state discussed the security situation around Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked France for the timely support for our state during the recent aggravation of the situation. For his part, Emmanuel Macron noted Ukraine's balanced position against the background of military escalation by Russia.
The security situation in Donbas was discussed. The leaders paid special attention to unblocking the negotiation process in the Normandy format. The President of Ukraine noted the readiness of our state to continue active work within the “Normandy Four”.
The parties stressed the necessity to resume the effective work of the Trilateral Contact Group. The President of France expressed support for the important initiatives of Ukraine in the TCG to return to a full-fledged ceasefire, release illegally detained persons and open checkpoints.
In addition, the parties discussed issues of European energy security, in particular the negative impact of the Nord Stream 2 project. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that this project poses a special threat to the energy security of European countries. Both presidents stressed the importance of diversifying energy supplies to Europe, in particular through liquefied natural gas.
Emmanuel Macron praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy's efforts to implement important reforms in Ukraine and reaffirmed the French side's readiness to facilitate these efforts.
The leaders agreed to continue discussion of these issues during a meeting in Brussels on December 15 this year.