Macron meets Putin to defuse Russia-Ukraine tensions
Europe, News February 8, 2022 No Comments on Macron meets Putin to defuse Russia-Ukraine tensionsPutin and Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow as part of international diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions
French President Emmanuel Macron met Russian President Vladimir Putin to ease escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Macron headed to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on February 8 after offering “concrete security guarantees” to the Russian leader.
After the lengthy meeting, Putin said he was ready for compromise and would look at proposals put forward by Macron and prepared to keep negotiating over Russia’s security demands in Eastern Europe. “A number of his ideas, proposals… are possible as a basis for further steps,” Putin said, adding: “We will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone.”
Macron said he made concrete proposals to address the concerns of both Russia and the West. “President Putin assured me of his readiness to engage,” Macron said, adding: “There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia.”
Putin said Russia was still working on a new written response with NATO and the United States over the security structure in Eastern Europe. Kremlin has urged Western countries to bar Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance as Russia interprets the alliance’s expansion to Kyiv as a direct threat.
Macron urged both the West and Russia to get over the traumas of the past and build useful solutions. “Russia is European,” Macron said. “Whoever believes in Europe must know how to work with Russia and find the ways and the means to construct the European future among Europeans.”
Putin and Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
At the start of the meeting, French President Macron said “This discussion can make a start in the direction in which we need to go, which is toward a de-escalation.”
Macron stressed that he hoped to “avoid a war” and “build elements of confidence, stability and visibility for everyone.”
After five hours of talks with Russian President Putin, Macron warned that the two sides needed to work quickly to avoid the risk of escalation.
According to Macron, the proposals included engagements between the two sides on any new military action, the launch of a new strategic dialogue, and efforts to revive the peace process in the Donbas region.
“President Putin assured me of his readiness to engage in this sense and his desire to maintain stability and the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Macron added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that “The situation is too complex to expect decisive breakthroughs in the course of one meeting.”
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