Syria and Ukraine are expected to be high on the agenda of Monday's talks in Paris between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron; experts say that the talks will unlikely lead to a breakthrough in bilateral ties tarnished under former French President Francois Hollande.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will sit down with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Versailles for talks that are expected to focus on a number of pressing issues related to Syria and Ukraine.
In an interview with RT, Russian expert on France Alexander Vershinin said that the fact that the negotiation will be held in Versailles "indicates Paris' desire to smooth out the unpleasant impression" of former French President Francois Hollande expressing doubt about the feasibility of his meeting with Putin in October 2016.
"No one expected Macron to start mending ties with Russia so quickly. Today we see an obvious attempt to set back the clock and resolve the contradictions between Russia and France through direct contact. Russia is ready to start developing bilateral ties from scratch. Another question is whether this can be done, given that the contradictions are very deep," Vershinin said.
He added that "Paris is no longer the capital where these contradictions can be resolved" and that "Macron would rather act as an intermediary between Russia and the United States."
Notably, the new French President shares the view of his predecessor on the Ukrainian crisis, which is why it is still unclear how Paris intends to link its push for dialogue with Moscow with its position on Ukraine, according to experts.
"First and foremost, Macron is a pragmatic economist who can count money. However, he is inexperienced in foreign policy issues, and besides, he cannot act independently, because France is built into the front of Western countries, where it does not play the first fiddle," Vershinin said.
Yevgeny Osipov, a senior fellow at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for his part, told RT that he didn't expect any breakthrough solutions during the talks between Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron.
"The two leaders will discuss a full range of bilateral issues, including economic cooperation. But as long as the regime of mutual sanctions remains, any breakthroughs cannot be expected, especially given that Macron is still in favor of extending the restrictive measures," according to Osipov.
"The most important thing is the very fact of this [Putin's] visit, especially after last autumn's scandal, which broke out due to Hollande's stance. The Putin-Macron talks are due to improve the climate in relations between the two countries," he said.
He also described the Versailles meeting as "a step which is now capable of laying the groundwork for the future rapprochement" between Russia and the EU on the whole. (Sputnik News)