French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stated on Tuesday that it is "important to have channels of communication" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that "isolation would be the worst policy." She noted that contact with the Russian government was useful in negotiating the International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
"The war will end one day, even if it could be long, and Russia will still be our neighbor," Colonna told France Inter. She also warned Belarus not to enter the war in Ukraine, stating that "any additional assistance to Russia in Ukraine will result in additional sanctions."