OREANDA-NEWS. French President Emmanuel Macron, during an election meeting with the French in the commune of Poissy in the Paris region, said that Russia and Russians must be treated with respect, RIA Novosti reports.

According to him, we need to continue talking to the Russian and Belarusian peoples with the help of artists, intellectuals, cooperation in the technical field, business and NGOs.

“To continue talking to the leaders, this is my task, even if we state differences ... and always respect Russia as a country and the Russian people,” the French president said.

Macron stressed that it would be impossible to talk about a "lasting peace" if Russia was not part of Europe's "big peace architecture".

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to conduct a military special operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the heads of the LPR and DPR. The decision to conduct the operation was the reason for new sanctions against Russia by the United States and its allies.