French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him in their marathon talks a day earlier that Moscow would not further escalate the Ukraine crisis.
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Macron's remarks on a visit to Kyiv came as the Kremlin denied reports that he and Putin struck a deal on de-escalating the crisis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "in the current situation, Moscow and Paris can't be reaching any deals."
Macron met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion. Moscow has massed over 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, but insists it has no plans to attack.
The Kremlin wants guarantees from the West that NATO will not accept Ukraine and other former Soviet nations as members, that it halt weapon deployments there and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe – demands the US and NATO reject as nonstarters.
At a news conference after meeting Zelenskyy, Macron said Putin told him during their more than five-hour session Monday that "he won't be initiating an escalation. I think it is important."
According to the French president, Putin also said there won't be any Russian "permanent (military) base" or "deployment" in Belarus, where Russia had sent a large number of troops for war games.
Peskov said withdrawing Russian troops from Belarus after the maneuvers was the plan all along.
Zelenskyy said he would welcome concrete steps from Putin for de-escalation, adding he didn't "trust words in general."
Macron also sought to temper expectations.
"Let's not be naive," he said. "Since the beginning of the crisis, France hasn't been inclined to exaggerate, but at the same time, I don't believe this crisis can be settled in a few hours, through discussions"
Zelenskyy called his talks with Macron "very fruitful."
"We have a common view with President Macron on threats and challenges to the security of Ukraine, of the whole of Europe, of the world in general," Zelenskyy said.
He said France was giving 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine and helping restore infrastructure in the war-ravaged east of the country.
Western leaders in recent weeks have engaged in high-level talks, and more are planned amid the backdrop of military drills in Russia and Belarus. On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said six large warships were moving from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea for exercises.
Macron said he had not expected Putin to make any "gestures" Monday, saying his objective was to "prevent an escalation and open new perspectives. ... That objective is met."
Macron said Putin "set a collective trap" by initiating the exchange of documents with the US Moscow submitted its demands to Washington in the form of draft agreements that were made public, and insisted on a written response, which was then leaked.
"In the history of diplomacy, there was never a crisis that has been settled by exchanges of letters which are to be made public afterward," he said, adding that's why he decided to go to Moscow for direct talks.
Putin said after the meeting that the US and NATO ignored Moscow's demands, but signaled readiness to continue talking. He also reiterated a warning that NATO membership for Ukraine could trigger a war between Russia and the alliance should Kyiv try to retake the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
NATO, US 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.
US President Joe Biden has said any prospect of Ukraine entering NATO "in the near term is not very likely," but he and other alliance members and NATO itself refuse to rule out Ukraine's future entry.
Biden met Monday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also will travel to Kyiv and Moscow on Feb. 14-15. They threatened Russia with grave consequences if it invaded, and Biden vowed that the Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline, which has been completed but is not yet operating, will be blocked. Such a move would hurt Russia economically but also cause energy supply problems for Germany.
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. He said the U.K. is ready to bolster NATO forces in Latvia and Estonia as he prepared to meet the Lithuanian prime minister in London to show support for the Baltic nations.
Johnson said he was considering dispatching RAF Typhoon fighters and Royal Navy warships to southeastern Europe. Britain said Monday it is sending 350 troops to Poland to bolster NATO's eastern flank. It already has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
More than 100 US military personnel arrived in Romania ahead of a deployment of about 1,000 NATO troops expected in the country in the coming days, Romania's Defense Minister Vasile Dincu said.
US officials have 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 US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are also going to Poland.
US officials have portrayed the threat of an invasion of Ukraine as imminent — warnings Moscow has scoffed at, accusing Washington of fueling tensions.
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