French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday defended his policy of maintaining dialogue with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, saying Turkey should not be the only power talking to Moscow and preparations for a negotiated peace are already underway should.

Macron has spoken repeatedly with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since Moscow launched its attack on Ukraine in February. The last conversation took place on August 19 after a long break.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom Macron had a fragile relationship, has actively sought to play the role of mediator, meeting personally with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Who wants Turkey to be the only world power that keeps talking to Russia?” said the President at a meeting of French ambassadors at the Elysée Palace.

“We must not indulge in any form of false morality that would render us powerless,” he added.

“The job of a diplomat is to talk to everyone, especially people with whom we disagree. And we will continue to do so in coordination with our allies.”

Macron argued that world powers should already be preparing for a “negotiated peace” to end the conflict, which has been going on for over half a year, stressing that it is up to Kyiv to decide the timing and terms.

“We must prepare for a long war. We must avoid escalation and prepare for peace,” he said.

“Preparing peace means talking to all parties, including, as I did a few days ago and will do again, Russia.”

He said such a negotiated peace would not stand on the terms “to which Ukraine would have been subjected if we had left it to its fate.”

Macron argued that Western military aid to Ukraine, including France, has enabled the country to resist the Russian invasion far more effectively than many experts, including Russia, had predicted.

“We’re not taking part in the war, we don’t want to,” he said, repeating an argument Macron has been using since the first days of the war.

“But we cannot let Russia win this war militarily by gaining territory and at the same time showing the defeat of the international order and our values ??on the basis of aggression.”

He also warned that Europe must remain united, noting that some countries are calling for a more bellicose stance or considering unilateral action.

“We must not allow Europe to be divided by this war. European unity is the key. The division of Europe was one of Russia’s war aims,” ??he said.