French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would not further escalate the Ukraine crisis. Macron is the first leader of a major Western power to meet Vladimir Putin since Russia built up troops near Ukraine.
Macron also said it would take time to find a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions, which represent the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
The French president had no breakthroughs to announce but Macron said he thought his talks had helped prevent the crisis from escalating further. He said had never expected "for one second" that Putin would make concessions.
Macron also said that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy informed him of their commitment to the principles of a 2014 peace agreement, known as the Minsk accords, offered a path to resolving their ongoing disputes.
Macron met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion.
President Macron's diplomatic push later moved to Berlin for a meeting with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Polish President Andrzej Duda, expressing their joint support for Ukrainian sovereignty.
The leaders met as part of a summit of the Weimar Triangle group, formed 31 years ago after the end of the Cold War, to help deal with challenges now facing Europe.
Russian response
Putin hinted on Monday that some of Mr Macron's proposals "could form the basis of further joint steps" - although they were "probably still too early to talk about".
A French official later told reporters that the two leaders had agreed that Russia would pull troops out of Belarus at the end of exercises taking place near Ukraine's northern borders.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov however denied any deal had occurred - although the troops were expected to return to Russia at some point, he said.
Moscow denies any plans to invade but is seeking sweeping concessions from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military alliance which has underpinned security in western Europe since 1949.
The demands include a promise of no missile deployments near Russia's borders, a scaling back of NATO infrastructure and a ban on Ukraine ever joining the alliance.
NATO, U.S. and European leaders reject the demands that they say challenge NATO’s core principles, like shutting the door to Ukraine or other countries that might seek membership; but they have offered to discuss other Russian security concerns in Europe.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in an article in the Times of London, also urged allies to finalize heavy economic sanctions that would take effect if Russia crosses into Ukraine.
More than 100 U.S. military personnel arrived in Romania ahead of a deployment of about 1,000 NATO troops expected in the country in the coming days, said, Romania’s Defense Minister Vasile Dincu.
U.S. officials said that about 1,000 alliance troops will be sent from Germany to Romania, a NATO member since 2004. Romania borders Ukraine to the north. About 1,700 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are also going to Poland.
The European Central Bank is reportedly preparing banks for a possible Russian-sponsored cyber attack as tensions with Ukraine mount, as the region braces for the financial fallout of any conflict.
Japan would divert some LNG to Europe if the Ukraine crisis disrupted supplies, as reported by national broadcaster NHK.
While both sides talk and then plan for more talks, troops continue to build on Ukraine's border and on Nato's eastern side.
-Rueters/Ap