MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Versailles on Monday will focus on terrorism, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said as he emphasized the importance of closer trade and economic ties.
"You know there are a lot of collapsed mechanisms of cooperation and interaction. At the same time, there is an obvious need for closer coordination, despite the existence of restrictive measures on both sides," Peskov told reporters.
Asked what place the subject of terrorism would occupy during the anticipated meeting, he said "very important, this is an integral part of all negotiations."
Putin will visit Paris on Monday at the invitation of Macron, as confirmed by the Kremlin earlier in May.
In August 2016, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and activist Alexander Kolchenko were sentenced by a Russian military court to 20 and 10 years in jail, respectively, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, there are at least 42 more Ukrainian citizens detained or sentenced in Russia. The issue has caused concern among EU politicians. In March, the European Parliament issued a resolution calling on Russia to release the detainees.
