Emmanuel Macron warned this Thursday that it was necessary to prepare for a long war in Ukraine, while calling for maintaining dialogue with Russia “in coherence with our allies”, a controversial approach which he considers necessary to build a solution of peace. The Head of State, who was speaking in Paris at the opening of the Conference of Ambassadors, also called for international coalitions “even imperfect, even incomplete” to avoid “a geographical extension of the Ukrainian conflict”. “We must prepare for a long war,” he reiterated. “Faced with this long war we must (…) avoid escalation and prepare for peace.” “Preparing for peace means continuing to talk (…) to all the stakeholders and therefore France will continue – as I did a few days ago and as I will do again after the IAEA mission – to speak to Russia in order, on each point where its role is useful, to be able to prepare the terms of peace”, said Emmanuel Macron. “France, the Europeans or whoever it is, does not have to choose for Ukraine the peace it wants or the moment to negotiate it, but we must do everything so that a negotiated peace is possible at the moment where the two protagonists will get back around the table”, he pleaded. The French president’s stated desire to maintain dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has been decried, including by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. The last meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin dates back to August 19 and focused in particular on the inspection of the International Nuclear Energy Agency at the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron, who is due to take part in the G20 summit in Bali in November, felt that the search for a solution to the conflict in Ukraine should cross Europe’s borders in the face of a “deconstruction” of the world order and the assertion of “authoritarian powers and imbalance”. He called for partnerships with countries in Africa, Asia and America.