Touching on the prospects of cancelling the anti-Russian sanctions amid the upcoming visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Russia next week, Griveaux said "it is early to speak about this, but there is nothing impossible."
"There are no deadlock situations," he said. "Everything may be discussed, this is the principle of diplomacy."
Griveaux does not believe that Paris has a different approach to the contacts with Washington and Moscow. "Vladimir Putin was invited to Versailles during the first weeks since Emmanuel Macron’s election," he noted. "Next week the French president is heading for a visit to Russia."
"Paris is holding negotiations with everyone," he stressed. "We adhere to the principle of multilateralism."
The French president is due to pay a visit to Russia on May 24-25. During the visit he will also take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, one of the key economic discussion platforms held under the auspices of the Russian president.
France was the first Western country where both chambers of the parliament - the National Assembly and the Senate - called for rolling back economic sanctions against Russia in 2016.
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