As the Russian-Ukrainian conflict entered its eleventh-day stalemate, a phone call between Macron and Putin broke the "tranquility" on the battlefield.
According to a report quoted by The Russian Satellite Network, on March 6, local time, Macron and Putin exchanged views on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict again by telephone. During the call, Macron expressed the hope that Putin would reopen the humanitarian corridor to facilitate the evacuation of Ukrainians trapped in the war zone.
After many considerations, the Russian Humanitarian Response Command said that since 10 o'clock local time on March 7, the Russian army in Ukraine will once again enter a "state of silence" and establish humanitarian corridors around the four ukrainian cities including Mariupol, Kiev, Kharkov and Samui to help local residents evacuate.
This is also the second time that the Russian army has "ceased fire" to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people since it entered a "state of silence" at 10 o'clock on March 5 and reorganized its offensive again after 8 hours later because the Ukrainian side failed to help the local people evacuate. At the same time, the scope of the establishment of humanitarian corridors this time has also been greatly expanded compared with the first ceasefire.
In fact, the first ceasefire provided evacuation channels for the people in the only area, Mariupol, and this time directly extended to four regions, it is obvious that the Russian side is still very "sincere" in this "ceasefire".
At the same time, compared with the first ceasefire, the Russian army is also "eating a long and wise", adding drones to monitor the evacuation process of local residents, completely eliminating the possibility of the Ukrainian military taking advantage of the "evacuation" to delay time.
At the same time, such surveillance can further exert pressure on the Ukrainian army, but any film that can be filmed in which the Ukrainian army obstructs the evacuation of local residents will become strong evidence that the Russian side has regained the high ground of international public opinion.
The ability to carry out such monitoring also proves from the side that the current Russian army can still control the current battlefield situation. After all, if the Russian military is really as bad as the Ukrainian government's propaganda, I am afraid that it will not have the heart to monitor the process of people's evacuation.
The reason why Putin is willing to establish a "humanitarian channel", in addition to the clichéd rest of troops, the exchange of prisoners of war, and the waiting for material assistance, is probably more out of diplomatic considerations.
After all, this request was first made by Macron, and before the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Macron also visited Russia, and it is clear that there is still a certain consensus between Putin and Macron. The reason why Putin is willing to sell Macron "a face" for a temporary ceasefire is probably a bigger deal hidden behind it.
Among the real-world effects that the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict can have on Europe, the biggest problem stems from Ukrainian refugees. According to the Global Times, more than 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the war. And there is only one place for these refugees, and that is the influx into Europe through Poland.
At the same time, as the war progresses, the size of such refugees will continue to grow. This is clearly unacceptable to Europe. Therefore, Macron and even the whole of Europe are very eager to end the war as soon as possible.
The key to solving the problem is clearly put on Putin, so Macron will repeatedly seek dialogue with Putin after the outbreak of war. Putin will naturally not give up after the war, but the sudden ceasefire in the middle of the war means that Macron and Putin have reached some kind of deal. The only chip In Macron's hand is his influence on Zelenskiy.
This window of ceasefire is likely to be the last chance Putin left Macron to dissuade Zelensky from "abandoning resistance." At the same time, for Zelenskiy, the war has reached this point, and he knows better than anyone whether the Ukrainian military can withstand the Russian offensive.
Under the current Russian attack, which is afraid of the restrictions of not harming the local population, Ukraine has completely lost its air superiority, and the living space of its ground troops has been backlogged, and if the Russian army lets go, the Ukrainian military has no possibility of organizing effective resistance. At the same time, NATO has also made it clear several times that it will not "go down", and in such a situation, Zelenskiy may have long been unable to continue to support.
If the Russian side can use Macron to leave a ladder for Zelenskiy to step down, it will be the best outcome for both sides of the war. Now that Putin has taken the lead in expressing his willingness to "take over", the next step is to see whether Zelenskiy is willing to "take over the play".