US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone on Wednesday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who informed him of “his recent meetings” with Russian and Ukrainian leaders in Moscow and Kiev, the White House announced.
“They also talked about the ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts, undertaken in close coordination with our allies and partners, in response to Russia’s persistent military deployment on the borders of Ukraine”, said the US Presidency in a brief statement, without commenting on the outcome of Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
A situation “tense, but under control”
The French Head of state met with on Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and then his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in Kiev. Emmanuel Macron assured that he received pledges from the Russian president so that there would be noadditional “escalation”, and Paris claims that this visit made it possible to“move forward” to calm the situation.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also showed optimism, welcoming on Wednesday the « progress » born of the resumption of intense diplomatic exchanges between Russia and the West. “Today there are real chances for a diplomatic settlement,” for his part, the head of the Ukrainian diplomatic service Dmytro Kuleba welcomed, for whom the situation remains “tense, but under control”.
The United States, on the other hand, has been very discreet so far about the outcome of the French president’s visit. Washington accuses Moscow of preparing for a potential large-scale invasion of Ukraine in the very short term, although US officials believe that Vladimir Putin has not yet made a decision on whether to go on the offensive.
The West threatens Russia with unprecedented sanctions in the event of an attack.
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