Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan on meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who will visit the semifinal match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup between France and Belgium, TASS reports.
"As far as we know, Macron plans to visit St. Petersburg only to visit the match and then leave the city immediately after that. Attending the match is not on the [Russian] President’s agenda," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
However, the Kremlin spokesman noted that "in any case, Russian-French contacts at the highest level are quite intensive." According to Peskov, Putin and Macron "have developed very kind and constructive relations." "This is why there is no lack of communication between Russia and France at the highest level," the Kremlin spokesman assured.
According to earlier reports, Macron will visit Russia to attend the semifinal match between France and Belgium on July 10.