Russian President Putin said many proposals presented by French counterpart Emmanuel Macron could be a basis for moving forward on the crisis over Ukraine and end stand-off between the two countries.
Put said, “A number of his ideas, proposals… are possible as a basis for further steps”.
Russian President stated this after his meeting with President of France Emmanuel Macron on Feb 7 in Moscow. French President Macron rushed to Moscow on Monday (Feb 7, 2022), to hold a special meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to defuse tension over war threat between Russia and Ukraine.
Macron will also hold a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today as a part of his efforts to deescalate war tension between Russia and Ukraine.
Russian President Putin said, “I would like to thank Mr. Macron for the efforts France is making to resolve the acute issue of our relations with NATO, to create an environment of stability on the European continent, to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine.”
Russia has strongly denied the perception that it was planning to invade Ukraine.
Putin said, “It is not us who are moving towards NATO’s borders.” If Ukraine joins the Western military bloc, Russia could get sucked into a conflict with European countries, he added.
“Do you want France to go to war with Russia?” Putin said.
Putin believed there would be no winners should European countries be drawn into a military conflict with Russia in case Ukraine becomes part of NATO and tries to retake Crimea.
Macron flew into Moscow at the start of a week of intense Western diplomacy aimed at easing fears of a Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
With tens of thousands of Russian troops camped near the Ukrainian border, Macron was the first top Western leader to meet Putin since the crisis began in December.
Flanked by Putin, Macron said he had made proposals of “concrete security guarantees” to Russian leader at talks in Moscow.
