PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande certainly
won’t go hungry this Thursday night. He’s dining twice — first with
U.S. President Barack Obama, then with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It
will be a digestive and logistical challenge, but the safest diplomatic
solution for the French president to keep apart two leaders who are at
odds.
Hollande is hosting at least 18 heads of state this week to
mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Obama and
Putin are among them, but do not plan one-on-one talks. U.S.-Russian
tensions are higher than they have been in years because of the unrest
in Ukraine.
Hollande will be the first Western leader to meet
individually with Putin since pro-European protests overthrew Ukraine’s
pro-Moscow president, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and the U.S.
and EU imposed sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
French
and Russian diplomats in Paris said that Hollande will host two
consecutive dinners Thursday. Obama comes first; then two hours later
it’s Putin’s turn, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity to be
able to discuss the plans before they are publicly formalized.
"As
host of many different countries, he’s having a range of separate
meetings," Obama’s foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes said of Hollande
Friday. "But there will not be a trilateral dinner that evening between
the three of them. It’s just a one-on-one."
One of the meals might
take place outside the presidential palace, a French diplomatic
official said. That would reduce the likelihood that Obama and Putin
might run into each other. A Russian diplomatic official said the
schedule is being carefully measured to ensure that each visiting
president gets sufficient time with the French leader.
France,
with substantial trade, banking and energy ties to Russia, has been more
cautious on sanctions than the U.S. or some European countries.
Hollande defended his decision to keep Putin on the invitation list for
the D-Day ceremonies.
Despite differences over Ukraine, Hollande
said last month, "I will never forget that the Russian people gave
millions of lives" in World War II fighting against the Nazis.
A
French diplomatic official on Monday played down talk that Hollande was
trying to play peacemaker and bring Obama and Putin together. The
official insisted that France remains committed to keeping up pressure
on the Kremlin to help calm violence in Ukraine.
World leaders
often find themselves in the presence of their foes at international
gatherings. Obama shook hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a
regional summit in 2009. He also exchanged a handshake and brief
pleasantries with Cuban leader Raul Castro last year while both attended
a memorial service in South Africa for Nelson Mandela.
Putin will
also meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Normandy on
Friday. Cameron’s office described it as an opportunity "to set out the
importance of a dialogue between the Russian government and the new
Ukrainian government."
Putin might run into Ukraine’s
president-elect, too. Petro Poroshenko will be in Normandy for the D-Day
ceremonies, a last-minute addition by Hollande.
The violence in
Ukraine today will be on many minds at the gathering, which commemorates
the massive invasion of Normandy beaches that helped turn World War II
against Hitler.
France is framing it as a reminder of the importance of
European peace and unity.
___
Nedra Pickler in Warsaw contributed to this report.