KIEV (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged during his meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to refrain from launching any new military maneuvers near Ukraine in the immediate future in order to promote a possible de-escalation, a said a member of the French delegation on Tuesday.
According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Russian leader also promised that Russian troops sent to Belarus for joint military exercises near the Ukrainian border would then return to Russia.
Vladimir Putin made no reference to such commitments during his joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening in Moscow.
Their scope would in any case remain to be assessed, Russia already having “military exercises” underway on all of Ukraine’s borders where it can deploy troops (some 100,000 soldiers on its territory and around 30,000 in Belarus, according to NATO and Western countries).
Moscow denies any bellicose intention while the United States and the United Kingdom say they see the beginnings of an imminent invasion. Ukraine, whose President Volodimir Zelenski will meet with Emmanuel Macron at midday in Kiev, is on its side less alarmist.
To begin a de-escalation, Vladimir Putin calls for a new security architecture in Europe, including the guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO and that the Atlantic Alliance will not deploy ballistic missiles near its border.
(Report by Michel Rose, written by Tangi Salaün, edited by)
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