French President Emmanuel Macron will propose "
a path of de-escalation
" in the Ukrainian crisis to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Elysée announced on Monday January 24.
"
The president will soon meet with Vladimir Putin to basically offer him a path of de-escalation
", declared the French presidency, specifying that the exchange would take place "
in the coming days
".
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“
He thinks there is space for diplomacy, for de
-escalation,” she added, as the noise of the boots grew around Ukraine.
In this context, Ambassador Pierre Vimont, Emmanuel Macron's special representative for Russia, will travel to Moscow on Tuesday, said the Elysée.
Format "
Normandy
"
France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will then hold a meeting on Wednesday in Paris on Ukraine at the level of diplomatic advisers.
It will involve advisers to Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Kremlin envoy for peace negotiations in Ukraine Dmitri Kozak, as well as President Volodymyr Zelensky's director of presidential administration.
This quadripartite format called "
Normandy
" aims to implement the 2015 Minsk peace agreements, now stalled, to settle the conflict between Kiev and the pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists in the Donbass.
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Europeans must prepare for the consequences of a possible Russian offensive
"
The war in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives, erupted in the spring of 2014 after a pro-Western revolution in Kiev and the annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula by Moscow. "
Tonight or tomorrow the Ukrainian Rada will come back to the transition law
," said the Elysée. This text, prepared in the summer of 2021, recognizes Russia as an "
aggressor state and occupying state
", which Moscow totally rejects, and is deemed contrary to the Minsk agreements. “
We can then negotiate humanitarian measures
” such as prisoner exchanges and the opening of
checkpoints
, added the Elysée. "
And we will try to
get a date ” for negotiations between Kiev and the separatists on “
the status of Donbass
,” he continued.
“
Different sensitivities towards Russia
”
France insisted on the need not to add volatility to the crisis, in full escalation between Westerners and Russians around Ukraine. "
We are concerned, we are also very careful not to create ambiguity, additional volatility
," insisted the Elysée. The United Kingdom accused Russia on Saturday of "
seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev
" and "
considering
" to "
occupy
" Ukraine, the day after US-Russian talks which seemed to have begun a detente. Washington, London and Canberra also announced the recall of their diplomats to Ukraine, citing the prospect of a Russian invasion "
at any moment
".
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The United States has also placed up to 8,500 soldiers on alert who could be deployed among NATO troops in the event of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. “
There are different sensitivities in Europe towards Russia
,” conceded the French presidency. But “
we share the same concerns, make the same observation of volatility
” on each side of the Atlantic, she added. Regarding the security guarantees requested by Russia from the United States and NATO, "
we want a response that is as coordinated, as unified as possible, in such a way that it is entirely credible, operational and
it commits everyone to a single objective, which is strategic security in Europe ”.