The poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny with the Novichok nerve agent has dealt a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's strategy of rapprochement with Russia, which troubled some EU allies, analysts say.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece was written based on the experience of Kyiv Post staff writer Anna Myroniuk, a native of Donetsk, on a trip to Paris at the invitation of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sponsored a visit by Ukrainian journalists in early February. In Paris, the reporters had a chance to speak with top-level decision-makers and hear their views on how to end Russia’s war in the Donbas.

Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron senses an opportunity to bring Russia's Vladimir Putin back in from the cold and potentially help usher in peace in Ukraine, an ambitious -- and risky -- undertaking that Western allies might not welcome.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron are due to hold a meeting in St. Petersburg.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Russia this week once threatened to split France from its European allies. Now it’s part of a wider European effort to tie President Vladimir Putin to the Iran nuclear accord.

Nearly two and a half years after the Russian military began an intensive bombing campaign in Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia is struggling to engineer a political solution in the war-ravaged country, analysts say.

President Vladimir Putin’s extra-heavy emphasis on new strategic missile systems in his March 1 address to parliament was quite unexpected and rather out of character. 

3 questions to Mark GALEOTTI, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, Director of Mayak Intelligence consultancy.

3 questions to Andrey KORTUNOV, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).