French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that he hoped to begin a “de-escalation” in the Russian-Western crisis over Ukraine during the first minutes of his meeting in the Kremlin with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Build “trust elements”
“The discussion can initiate what we need to go towards, which is a de-escalation”, declared Emmanuel Macron, adding that he wanted to “avoid war” and “build the elements of confidence, stability, visibility for everyone”. According to the French president, this “useful response” aims to “avoid war” between Russia and Ukraine and to “build the elements of confidence, stability, visibility for everyone”. Mr. Macron judged that the current situation in Europe was “critical” and required “to be extremely responsible”. Praising the dialogue conducted since 2019 with Russia, he considered that it was “necessary because it is the only one that makes it possible to build real security and stability for the European continent”.
What we need to move towards is de-escalation. We know the terms. Major questions of collective security, the Ukrainian question, the security situation in Belarus and throughout the region: let’s move forward. pic.twitter.com/sXEDLGf4jO
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 7, 2022
Vladimir Putin for his part hailed the French efforts “to resolve the question of security in Europe”. “I see how many efforts are being made by the French authorities to resolve the issue of security in Europe”, in particular to “find a settlement to the crisis” in Ukraine, said Vladimir Putin, at the start of the meeting with Emmanuel Macron .
“common concerns”
Vladimir Putin considered that Russia and France had “common concerns about security in Europe”. He praised the “efforts” of Paris to “resolve the problem of security in Europe”, in particular that aimed at “finding a settlement to the crisis” in Ukraine.
Macron’s visit to Moscow comes amid rising tensions between Westerners and Russia, which is accused of massing tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion. The French president is the first high-profile Western leader to meet the Russian president since tensions escalated in December. On Tuesday, he will travel to Ukraine for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nothing without the Ukrainians
Americans and Europeans offer discussions on Russia’s security concerns without giving in on key points, suggesting gestures of confidence such as reciprocal visits to military sites or disarmament measures. Proposals deemed “positive” but “secondary” by Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba, receiving his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Kiev on Monday, insisted that Russia will not be able to “drag a wedge between Ukraine and its partners”.
Earlier, he had set Ukraine’s red lines: “No concessions on territorial integrity” and “a lasting withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border and occupied territories”.
Emmanuel Macron promised him that there would be no “compromise on the Ukrainian question without the Ukrainians”. Russia already annexed part of Ukraine in 2014, the Crimean peninsula, after a pro-Western revolution in Kiev. Since the same year, pro-Russian separatists, supported by Moscow, have also been at war with the Ukrainian army in the east of the country, in a conflict that has left more than 13,000 dead.