While tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are still camped on the borders of Ukraine, raising fears of an invasion, or even a European conflict, President Macron went to the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday to try to begin a de-escalation and convince Vladimir Putin "to avoid a war". Russia is demanding, in return, that NATO leaves its neighborhood… an unacceptable demand for Westerners. “Our continent is today in an eminently critical situation which requires us to be extremely responsible”, declared the French president, seated at a very long white table in a Kremlin living room, separated by several meters from his Russian counterpart. “Discussion can initiate where we need to go, which is de-escalation,” he added.
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Faced with Macron's demands, the head of the Kremlin praised the French president's efforts.
“I see how many efforts are being made by the French authorities to resolve the issue of security in Europe”, in particular to “find a settlement to the crisis” in Ukraine, launched the Russian president for his part.
He said Russia and France had "common concerns about security in Europe".
Emmanuel Macron is the first high-profile Western leader to meet Russia's head of state since tensions escalated in December.
On Tuesday, he will go to Kiev to see his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Next week it will be the turn of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to make these same trips, after being on Monday with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
