MOSCOW: The coming days will be crucial in the Ukraine standoff, French President Emmanuel Macron said after a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who suggested some progress had been made in the talks.
Putin said the first Moscow summit he has held with a Western leader since the Kremlin began massing troops near its neighbour had been substantive but also repeated warnings about the threat of war if Ukraine joined NATO.
Russia wants security guarantees that include a promise of no missile deployments near its borders and a scaling back of NATO’s military infrastructure. The West has said some of Russia’s demands are “non-starters” but it is willing to talk about arms control and confidence-building steps.
Macron, who has pushed his diplomatic credentials as he eyes possible re-election in two months’ time, held more than five hours of talks over dinner on Monday with the Russian president. “The next few days will be decisive and will require intensive discussions which we will pursue together,” Macron told reporters after the meal.
Putin suggested some of Macron’s ideas could help defuse the crisis. “A number of his ideas, proposals, which are probably still too early to talk about, I think it is quite possible to make the basis of our further joint steps,” he said. Both are due to speak again after Macron meets with Ukraine’s leadership.
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Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border. It has said it is not planning an invasion but could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met. Moscow sees NATO’s addition of 14 new east European members since the Cold War ended three decades ago as a threat to its security.
“If Ukraine joins NATO and tries to get Crimea back by military means, European countries will automatically be drawn into military conflict with Russia,” Putin said, speaking with heavy emphasis. “There will be no winners.”
He urged Ukraine to comply with the Minsk agreements, which include an aim to end the separatist war by Russian speakers in the Donbass region.
Macron said the independence of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, where Russia is engaged in military exercises, must be preserved and that he was certain of progress. “Together… I’m sure we will get a result, even if it’s not easy,” said the French leader.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden, hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said there was still a diplomatic off-ramp to resolve the crisis, stressing the United States and Europe’s biggest economy were “in lockstep.”
The two nations will also ensure sanctions can be imposed quickly in the event of a fresh attack, Scholz told reporters. “It will have very high costs for Russia,” he said.
