France Says Russian Foreign Minister to Visit Paris Friday

Russia's foreign minister will meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris Friday to lay groundwork for a mooted summit between US President Joe Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin, France's foreign ministry said Monday.

Sergei Lavrov agreed to a meeting "to hold preparatory consultations for the summit agreed in principle" in a Sunday phone call between Putin and France's Emmanuel Macron, said a ministry statement.

Macron on Sunday spoke twice with Putin and once with Biden in a bid to broker the summit, saying overnight that both had agreed "in principle" to meet.

The White House said that such a meeting could take place so long as Russia did not invade Ukraine. The Kremlin then described talk of a summit as premature and that there were no concrete plans.

"It is up to President Putin to make his choice" on whether to go ahead, a French presidential official who asked not to be named told reporters Monday.