“Window of optimism” Macron-Putin communications and, consequently, the agreement on an enlarged Summit to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the US is still on alert.
Its presidents Russia Vladimir Putin and US Joe Biden “In principle they accepted” the idea of meeting face to face, as suggested by their French counterpart, Emanuel Macron.
The unexpected announcement was made at a time when the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war was considered imminent.
The summit “will not take place unless Russia invades Ukraine,” the Elysee said in the early hours of today.
An enlarged meeting with the participation of “all parties” involved in the Ukrainian crisis will follow, which will concern “security and strategic stability in Europe”, the services of the French presidency clarified, emphasizing that the preparation of the meetings will start from on Thursday, when US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to meet.
US President Joe Biden to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “if there is no invasion”, the White House confirms
The United States has “committed itself to continuing diplomacy until the invasion begins,” said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the US presidency. “President Biden agreed in principle to meet with President Putin (…) if there has been no invasion,” he said. “We are also ready to incur rapid and heavy costs if Russia chooses war instead,” Psaki added.
“At the moment, Russia seems to be continuing its preparations to launch a large-scale attack on Ukraine very soon,” said a spokeswoman for the US presidency.
For example, before the announcement of the French presidency in an interview with CNN, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed that the US is committed to the last minute to see if diplomacy can prevent Russian President Putin from invading.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the extension of military exercises shows that the world is on the “threshold” of a war.
Western leaders have accused Moscow of seeking a pretext for sending troops, but Russia has denied any plans to invade Ukraine.
Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the European Union member states will discuss today the latest developments regarding the Ukrainian crisis, following the escalation of hostilities over the weekend with deaths on both sides of the conflict and the announcement of an impending summit. US Joe Biden and Russian Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba is expected to be present at the breakfast of his European counterparts.
Other issues on the agenda of today’s ministerial debate will be the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Bosnia, which is experiencing its worst political crisis since the end of the war in 1995, and the situation in Mali, where the EU is called upon to decide whether to end it. in its military mission to train the Sahel’s armed forces after the coup and the unfavorable turn of relations between Bamako and his partners, especially Paris.
At the same time, Ukraine’s intelligence services are not aware of the existence of Russian “strike forces”, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, without implying that the Russians could not deploy them at will.
In any case, the Ukrainian Defense Minister insisted that the danger exists and even added that they may be needed. one to two weeks to develop such units, depending on what plans Moscow has.
The Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is meeting today, will try to find a way out of the Ukrainian crisis.
As Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pavel Jablonski told the PAP news agency, the OSCE thus responded to the request made by Ukraine, due to the increased tension in the Donbas region.
It is recalled that Poland currently holds the presidency of the Organization.
U.S. officials said the meeting was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm GMT (16:00 pm Greek time).
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