(Updated throughout with new elements)
MOSCOW, Feb 8 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Tuesday refuted reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had pledged to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron not to take any new military moves near Ukraine for the time being, showering the assertions of the French camp on diplomatic advances.
Emmanuel Macron, who traveled to Moscow on Monday, is the most important head of state among Western powers to have met Vladimir Putin since the outbreak of the diplomatic crisis around Ukraine caused by the significant mobilization of troops Russians on the border between Russia and its Ukrainian neighbour.
No major progress emerged from talks between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin on Monday evening but a member of the French delegation told Reuters on Tuesday that the Russian president had pledged during his meeting with Emmanuel Macron to refrain from launching into the immediate future of new military maneuvers near Ukraine in order to promote a possible de-escalation.
According to this official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Russian leader also promised that the Russian troops sent to Belarus for joint military exercises near the Ukrainian border would then return to Russia at the end of the maneuvers, scheduled February 20.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured Tuesday that this information was “not accurate”.
Vladimir Putin made no new promises regarding a departure of Russian troops based in Belarus, the spokesman said. These troops are expected to return to their bases in Russia at some point after the drills, but “no one ever said they would stay” in Belarus, he added.
Faced with comments from the Kremlin, the Elysee seemed to backtrack on Tuesday, indicating that the French official was referring to points discussed between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin rather than commitments made by the Russian president.
The French head of state, who traveled to Kiev on Tuesday for a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodimir Zelenski, for his part assured journalists that he had obtained that there was “no degradation and ‘escalation’ in the crisis in Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron, who said he did not expect “a single second” that the Russian president would make “gestures” during their bilateral meeting, said he had achieved his goal.
Western powers, including the United States, fear an invasion of Ukraine by Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Moscow says it has no hostile intentions but does not rule out unspecified military measures if it does not obtain guarantees on its security, in particular the commitment by NATO never to include Ukraine among its members.
The United States and the European Union have threatened Russia with sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine. On Monday, US President Joe Biden reiterated his warnings about a possible blockage of the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline project built by Gazprom between Russia and Germany to bypass Ukraine, without giving specific details on its implementation. in place.
(Report Dmitry Antonov and Pavel Polityuk, written by Peter Graff; French version Myriam Rivet and Blandine Hénault, edited by Bertrand Boucey and Sophie Louet)