Yesterday for the first time since 2022 Macron of France called President Vladimir Putin of Russia about ending the Ukrainian war.
Putin agreed that the war must come to an end but of course with all sides acknowledging "territorial realities". Meaning Russia will keep those Russian speaking parts of eastern Ukraine (which Russia has already captured). Plus guarantees that there will be no more genocide against the Russian speaking people living inside Ukraine (which precipitated the war in the first place). Ukraine will also not be allowed to join NATO and will also be partially demilitarised - there will be a 100 km demilitarised buffer zone inside the Ukrainian side of the border.
Why did Macron call President Putin now? A few reasons - all connected to the disaster enveloping Ukraine on the battle field.
For the past three weeks the Russians have been pulverising the Ukrainian frontlines. For the first time the president of one of the warring countries (Vladimir Putin of Russia) made a plea that enemy soldiers (Ukrainian) were being sacrificed on the front lines. He called on Ukraine to agree to a permanent ceasefire - to save further destruction of Ukrainian lives. Mr Putin's call went unheeded.
Since then the Russians have taken the whole of Lughansk oblast. The Russians are also approaching within artillery range of Sumy the capital of Sumy oblast, after having chased out Ukrainian forces from the adjacent Kursk region. Pokhrovsk in the Donetsk oblast is also about to be fully captured.
This summer Russia is likely making a pincer movement towards Odessa and the entire Black Sea coast of southern Ukraine. When Odessa is captured Ukraine will have no more access to the sea and all maritime imports and exports will stop. The situation is getting really perilous for Ukraine
Mr Putin also announced that Russia has begun full scale production of the brand new Oreshnik missile. This is a Mach 11 ballistic missile which has "non-ballistic" characteristics. It can twist and turn and make corkscrews during flight. It is actually a two stage missile where after the booster rocket falls off (60 seconds), the second stage also splits (180 seconds) into the payload (the 'bus'). The payload itself splits further into six multiple independent reentry vehicles or MIRVs. Each MIRV then has another six (warheads) each. Meaning each Oreshnik can deliver up to 36 warheads.
The Oreshnik has a range of around 3,800 km and is nuclear capable.
Here is a 3 minute video. The Oreshnik has already been battle proven - in November last year an Oreshnik was fired into an industrial target in Ukraine. The "test" missile did not carry a live warhead - there were no explosives. At minute 1:04 to 1:10 in the video you can see the unbelievable hypersonic speed (Mach 11) of the falling warheads. The kinetic energy alone caused significant damage.
The other reason why Macron called President Putin is because the US has said that it will not be sending any more new weapons to Ukraine. This news just came out a few hours ago: Pentagon halts weapons shipment to Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a pause in sending a shipment of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine. July 2, 2025 - NBC News.
Here is some Trumpeting:
Here is that three minute video:
