Macron hopes Ukrainian counter-offensive may restart peace talks on Kyiv's terms

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hopes that "the Ukrainian counter-offensive will be able to bring everyone back to the negotiating table," in an interview published on Aug. 23 by French weekly news and politics magazine Le Point.

"Good negotiations would be those negotiations that Ukrainians want," he argued.

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Moreover, the French leader accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of "fueling global disorder."

Macron explained that Putin was making a "deep schism by deciding not to abide by international agreements anymore."

Ukrainian counter-offensive: Latest

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The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Aug. 22 that Ukrainian troops had entered Robotyne, a village in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, and the next day raised the Ukrainian flag over the liberated settlement.

Earlier, on Aug. 16, the liberation of the village of Urozhayne in Donetsk Oblast was confirmed. In total, Ukrainian forces recaptured nine settlements in the south and east of Ukraine in June, and the village of Staromayorske in Donetsk Oblastin July.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Ukrainian forces "step-by-step continue to create conditions for moving forward."

Earlier, U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported that a new phase of Ukraine's counter-offensive has begun, with the main blow coming from the southeast, where Ukrainian soldiers are gradually advancing through minefields while under attack by Russian aircraft.

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According to the UK newspaper the Financial Times, Ukraine changed its tactics after the "chaos" at the beginning of the counter-offensive, and now Ukrainian forces are focusing on striking Russian defensive positions with heavy artillery and are achieving tangible results.

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