Emmanuel Macron says he believes in a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron believes that there is a prospect of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

"The prospect of peace exists," Macron said, speaking on Sunday in Rome at the international forum "Proclamation to the World", organized by the Catholic community of Saint Egidio. In addition, the French leader expressed his opinion that peace would be possible when "Ukraine reaches such a decision".

"We are talking about peace, about the cry for peace at a time when Ukrainians are fighting to protect their dignity, borders and sovereignty. The peace they (Ukrainians) want is also possible, while at the same time respecting the rights of a sovereign nation'', Macron said for the ANSA news agency. He emphasized that the law of force should not be reached. "I did everything I could to have a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but I have no answer to the question of how we got to the current situation, as well as explanations and justifications for what is happening. Russia has isolated itself from the rest of the world and believes it has reason to feel threatened. Moscow is convinced that the rest of the world wants to see Russia destroyed,'' Macron added.

For his part, Italian President Sergio Mattarella noted that "the world cannot ignore the right to self-defense nor the obligation to help an attacking people".

It should be noted that recently, France has repeatedly emphasized the importance of keeping Western diplomatic channels open to Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24.