KIEV/MOSKAU/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In view of the persistently high tensions in the Ukraine conflict, international heads of state and government are pushing for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. After a long talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the implementation of the Minsk peace plan at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was dismayed by what she saw during a visit to the front in eastern Ukraine. In the evening, Macron was expected in Berlin with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had recently returned from the USA.
There was no breakthrough in Macron’s talks with Selenskyj – as before with Putin. For next Thursday, the French President announced further talks with representatives of Russia and Ukraine at advisor level in Berlin. France and Germany have been mediating in the so-called Normandy format in the conflict for years.
Macron reiterated that the peace plan negotiated in Minsk in 2015 was the only way to achieve peace and a lasting political solution. The agreement is currently on hold. Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of violations. According to UN estimates, more than 14,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since fighting began in 2014.
Zelenskyj described the talks with his French colleague as “rich in content” and “very fruitful”, but did not comment on possible progress in the implementation of the peace plan. At the same time, he expected a meeting at the highest level in the Normandy format “in the near future”. The last summit was in Paris in 2019.
Macron negotiated with Putin in Moscow for almost six hours on Monday evening. “I have achieved that there is no deterioration and no escalation,” said Macron on the onward flight to Kiev.
Foreign Minister Baerbock called for a peaceful solution in eastern Ukraine. “We will not be able to resolve this aggression from the Russian side militarily. That’s why I’m doing everything to ensure that we make step-by-step progress at the negotiating table,” said the Greens politician in the Donbass crisis area. Protected by a helmet and bulletproof vest, Baerbock had a commander of the Ukrainian government troops explain the military situation to him.
Baerbock said she returned from her 40-minute stay at the front between soldiers of the Ukrainian army and the Russian-backed separatists in Donbass with “very depressing feelings.” She demanded that an agreed ceasefire must be observed. The situation is “highly dramatic”.
The Kremlin in Moscow also said that a de-escalation was “very necessary” in view of the tensions. With a view to joint maneuvers with Belarus, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that the Russian soldiers sent would leave the neighboring country after the end of the exercise. “If you followed it carefully, no one ever said that Russian troops stayed on Belarusian territory.”
Fears are expressed in the West that the Kremlin could prepare for an invasion of Ukraine by moving troops to Belarus. Moscow has always said that the exercise, which begins on Thursday, is in accordance with international law.
In view of reports of a massive deployment of soldiers on Russian territory near Ukraine, the West has been warning of a possible invasion for weeks. Moscow denies that. However, it is also considered possible that the Russian side wants to stir up fears in order to persuade NATO to make concessions on demands for security guarantees.
The Polish head of state Andrzej Duda was also expected at the meeting between Chancellor Scholz and Macron in Berlin in the evening. Scholz met US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Monday. Biden acknowledged Germany as a reliable partner in the Ukraine crisis and thus countered doubts about NATO partner Germany’s loyalty to the alliance. In its conflict with Russia, Ukraine had also demanded weapons from Germany. The federal government rejects this.
Biden made it clear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean the end of Nord Stream 2. Scholz did not mention the built but not yet opened gas pipeline by name. At the press conference he again emphasized that possible sanctions in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine had been intensively prepared. Part of it is not to name everything, so as not to disclose all plans to Moscow in advance. However, Scholz promised: “We will act in full agreement on the sanctions.”
Meanwhile, more US soldiers landed in Poland for the fourth day in a row. As part of the announced reinforcement of American troops in Europe, almost 2,000 additional US soldiers have now arrived in the neighboring country of Ukraine, as the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw announced on Tuesday via Twitter. The first US soldiers also arrived in Romania to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. Last week, to Moscow’s annoyance, Biden announced that troops would be transferred to Poland and Romania./cht/DP/he