France hopes President Vladimir Putin will respond positively to moves by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to end the five-year-old conflict in the country’s east, a French presidency official said Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host Putin for talks at his holiday residence in Bregancon in southern France next Monday, a rare bilateral visit by the Russian strongman to the West after years of growing tensions. “President Zelensky has made offers to which — it seems to us — President Putin should respond in an encouraging way,” said the French official, who asked not to be named.
