The French President believes that every crossing of the “red lines” by Russian President Vladimir Putin should be followed by international sanctions as “part of the package.”
Macron explained that he considers it necessary to achieve a relationship of trust in communication with Putin. According to him, he prefers “constructive dialogue”.
The French leader believes that what happened in 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and started the war in Donbass, became possible due to the lack of authority of the West, and not because of the “failure of diplomacy.”
He suggested that Putin’s courage was given by the lack of a proper response from the international community to the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013.
Macron praised the intention of US President Joe Biden to start a dialogue with Russia.
- April 16, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with Macronto discuss the situation in Donbass. German Chancellor Angela Merkel later joined the one-on-one talks in video format.
- Following the meeting, the leaders of the three countries issued a statement in which called on the Russian Federation to withdraw troops from the borders of Ukraine, and agreed that meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four, which will discuss the “road map” for the implementation of the Minsk agreements, will take place on April 19.
- During the meeting, Zelensky told his colleagues in the Normandy format about escalation in Donbass and suggested to Macron sign a declaration of support for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
- The Elysee Palace said that after meeting with Zelensky Macron intends to talk with Putin.
- At the beginning of 2021, the situation in Donbass worsened. The Joint Forces operation headquarters has repeatedly reported that the enemy is firing sniper fire. On April 1, the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that from the beginning of 2021 the Russian occupation troops in Donbas violated the ceasefire more than 570 times.
- In late March – early April, the media and eyewitnesses began to publish video evidence that Russia was actively transfers military equipment to Crimea across the Kerch bridge and pulls troops to the border with Ukraine.
- On March 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak confirmed that the Russian Federation builds up troops near the border with Ukraine and in the occupied Crimea, which “poses a threat to the military security of the state.” Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia wants to expand military presence on the territory controlled by the “DPR” and “LPR” militants through the introduction of regular units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and did not rule out an attempt to move Russian troops deep into the territory of Ukraine.
- Against the background of the aggravation of the situation, the authorities of the Russian Federation announced control check of troops… Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on April 13 that Russia had deployed two armies and three airborne troops to the “western borders” in three weeks, all of which are involved in exercises that will be completed within 14 days.
- According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba, the current escalation by the Russian Federation in Donbass is systemic and the most ambitious in recent years.
- Due to the escalation of the situation in Donbass, the US command in Europe announced maximum availability… According to information White House and US State Department, the number of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine is the largest since 2014. The pulling-in of Russian troops to the Ukrainian border is likely to end by April 20, their number could reach 56 battalion tactical groups with 110 thousand troops, Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said on April 14.
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