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Putin, Macron and stalled talks: 4 May 2022
Summary
A look back at the diplomatic and sanctions moves reported in the days around 4 May 2022, as talks between Russia and Ukraine were feared to have stalled.
What was the state of diplomacy in the war in Ukraine on 4 May 2022? The reports from the preceding days pointed to a mix of assurances about talks, new economic countermeasures and a sharp row between Kyiv and Budapest.
On 3 May 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia was ready to continue peace negotiations with Ukraine. The assurance came amid fears that talks between the two countries had stalled.
The same day, Putin signed a decree that would allow the Russian government to terminate any business and exports with entities and people it deemed "unfriendly". It was presented as part of the sanctions confrontation that followed the invasion.
A dispute with Hungary
On 2 May 2022, Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, accused Hungary of having had advance knowledge of the Russian invasion. He said Putin had warned Hungary, and that Hungary had plans to annex parts of Western Ukraine. These were the accusations as made by Danilov, and they added a regional dimension to the diplomatic picture.
What the reports showed
Taken together, the reports from 2 and 3 May 2022 showed Moscow publicly signalling openness to negotiations while also tightening its own economic response to Western sanctions. Kyiv, for its part, was in open dispute with a neighbouring government over what it said had been known before the invasion began.
