Crimea issue central to peace talks – French government spox

This was stated by spokeswoman for the French government Sophie Primas at a press conference following a meeting of the Committee of Ministers, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The issue of Crimea is, of course, central to the negotiations. Europe reminds that it cannot be resolved without Ukraine’s opinion and without Ukraine’s final position," she emphasized.

Primas added that the European position is unanimous: the first goal is to achieve a ceasefire, to which Ukraine has already agreed, "but which, obviously, President Putin does not agree to, despite his statements."

According to the spokeswoman, negotiations are ongoing daily, and a European meeting on this matter is scheduled for next week. However, she did not specify an exact date.

"Discussions are ongoing with the United Kingdom and with European countries. And the United States is increasingly aligning with our position. You couldn’t have missed that President Trump has somewhat toughened his stance towards Russia. Information exchange is happening every day, and the President of the Republic is in daily contact with his counterparts. So, it is a continuous process," she summarized.

As reported earlier, Donald Trump called his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican "pleasant" and expressed disappointment with Russia for launching missile attacks on Ukrainian cities during the talks.

Photo: gouv.fr