TPM Reader ES flags for our attention this paywalled article in Le Parisien. In addition to the paywall issue, ES is a native French speaker. So his characterization will be much closer to the mark than anything I’d be able to cobble together through Google translate …
Hey so I found this in the French press (it’s unfortunately paywalled).
In a nutshell it’s an insider account of Macron’s regular phone calls with Putin. The really juicy part, which gives a window on what’s going on is this: apparently during these discussions Putin goes on what sounds like lengthy rants about Russia’s history (“c’est interminable” says one source).