This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said several proposals put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks on February 7 in Moscow could form a basis for moving forward on the crisis over Ukraine.
Macron also said he found points of convergence during talks with Putin, which took place on a day of intensified international efforts to defuse the standoff.
“A number of his ideas, proposals…are possible as a basis for further steps,” Putin said after more than five hours of talks with Macron at the Kremlin.
Putin described the talks as useful, substantive, and businesslike, although Macron admitted that differences remain.
In a joint news conference with Macron after their meeting, Putin said the two presidents would talk again by phone after Macron’s talks with the Ukrainian leadership on February 8 in Kyiv.
Macron said the coming days would be crucial in the standoff after he made proposals of “concrete security guarantees” to Putin. He said the Russian president had assured him of his “readiness to engage in this sense and his desire to maintain stability and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Macron said, however, that he told Putin that creating a new security architecture in Europe should not be done by canceling states’ right to join the NATO alliance.
Putin again said he saw no alternative to the existing Minsk peace accords to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and said Kyiv must comply with the steps outlined in agreements reached in 2014 and 2015.
“Whether they are alive or have any prospects or not — I believe that there is simply no other alternative” to the Minsk agreements, Putin said.
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France have met under the so-called Normandy format to seek an end to the conflict. The agreements have been hamstrung by differing interpretations of its contents and the process for implementing them.
Diplomats have tried to breathe new life into the accords, which contain the groundwork for a final settlement in the Donbas, parts of which have been under pro-Russia separatists’ control since April 2014.
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden held his own crisis talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the flurry of diplomacy over Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine spanned two continents.
The two leaders stressed their unity and trust as they work to further deter Russian aggression in Europe. Biden said Germany and the U.S. were in “lockstep” as they work to address tensions.
Biden also vowed to “bring an end” to the disputed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to deliver Russian gas to Germany but has not yet gone into operation.
“The notion that Nord Stream 2 would go forward with the invasion by the Russians is just not going to happen, Biden said during a joint news conference with Scholz.
He did not specify how the U.S. would be able to carry out such a move, but stressed that the Germany and the United States are prepared to act together in their response to any invasion.
He said if Russia invades — specifying that he means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again — “then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said. “I promise you, we will bring an end to it.”
Scholz did not go as far in his comments, but said Germany and the United States will act together in their response to any Russian invasion, which Moscow denies it is planning. He said both countries are ready to enact far-reaching, severe measures in the event of an invasion.
Biden added that the U.S is working on finding alternative sources for natural gas to make up for a loss of supplies if Russia cuts them.
“We think we could make up a significant portion of gas,” Biden said, adding that, if the supply is cut, Russia would be hurt very badly. “We are looking at what we can do to compensate for the loss — the immediate loss — of gas should that occur.”
