The videoconference meeting with European leaders was to prepare the virtual summit with Vladimir Poutin: Joe Biden met, Monday, December 6, with Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Boris Johnson and Mario Draghi. It was to consult on the situation in Ukraine before the conversation scheduled for Tuesday afternoon between the American and Russian presidents.
In the process, the Elysée issued a terse press release, underlining the determination of the five countries “That the sovereignty of Ukraine be respected”. Their leaders “Discussed their common concern over the Russian military deployment on the borders of Ukraine and hostile rhetoric from Russia”, said the White House. They also have “Recalled the need for Russia to re-engage in negotiations with Ukraine, within the framework of the so-called” Normandy “group, under the aegis of France and Germany”. Negotiations have been stalled for months, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
In reality, consultation is all the more necessary since Americans and Europeans have recently shown signs of divergence over the conclusions to be drawn from the deployment of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. “It is important to coordinate to have a clear picture of the situation. Nothing would be worse than overreacting ”, says a French diplomatic source. The issue has been the subject of numerous consultations in recent days, in particular at the NATO foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday (November 30) in Riga.
While some American officials warn, in view of the forces present, against a risk of invasion, seven years after the unilateral annexation of Crimea by Vladimir Putin, the European capitals are worried, but want to be less alarmist. The United States said on Monday that in the event of an attack on Ukraine by Russia, it would take massive new economic sanctions, but without considering a direct military response, a senior official in the Biden administration said. Scenarios that Europeans refuse to consider at this stage.
Macron in Budapest
“We have observed a concentration of forces since 2014, which is nothing new. What may have changed in the spring are peaks in activity that are even more significant, and which raise questions about the motivations behind all of this., observed a French diplomat recently. We are very careful not to draw more substantive conclusions that go beyond the mere facts that we observe. “
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