France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart may be heading for bilateral talks on Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “expressed readiness to engage in dialogue” with Macron on the issue, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, according to media reports.

The Elysée responded positively. “It is welcome that the Kremlin has publicly agreed to this approach. We will decide in the coming days on the best way to proceed,” the French presidency said.

Macron said at last week’s EU summit in Brussels that it would be “useful” for Europe to reach out to Putin to ensure that a peace deal in Ukraine is not negotiated solely by the United States, Russia and Ukraine. “I think that we Europeans and Ukrainians need to find a framework to engage a discussion in due form,” Macron told reporters as the summit wrapped up early Friday morning.

The Elysée stressed that any talks with Russia would take place in “full transparency” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies, Le Monde reported.

Macron and Putin have rarely been in direct contact since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Their most recent phone communication was in July, following about three years of no contact.