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Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the Spectator's Daily Politics podcast. I'm Max Jeffrey and I'm joined by Katie Balls and James Forsyth.

We're now a week into Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Their advances stalling in the north, but they've taken a big city in the south of

the country, Kersen. James, Macron spoke to Vladimir Putin earlier today, and I think he was

left with the impression that the worst is yet to come. Can you tell us what happened on that

call and why it matters? So, my name Macron, the French president, is determined to keep open lines of

communication with Vladimir Putin. But I think Macron is under no illusions about Putin's

intentions. It's quite clear that Putin didn't honor some of the things that Macron thinks he

said to him about not escalating the situation before the war. I think what is concerned

Emmanuel Macron is that

Emmanuel Macron, the Elysee Palace are saying, was left with the impression that Vladimir Putin

intends to occupy the whole of Ukraine. And essentially, the Ukrainian's message was, if Ukrainians

don't surrender now, things will only get worse for them. The Russians are not backing down from

their aim of demilitarising Ukraine.

Now, Putin has also done a televised address in Russia where he suggests, slightly outlandishly,

that the operation is all going to plan. I don't think the plan wants to have, you know,

various things around the field. Now, I still think it's obviously still likely that in terms

of the initial military victory, Russia will win that. I do not understand, though, how Russia would hold the whole of Ukraine or support a Ukrainian

puppet government. If anyone looking at the intensity of which the Ukrainians are fighting

would think that the conditions are ripe for an insurgency, I also think it is quite clear

...