French President Emmanuel Macron held talks in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and said that the risk of escalation still exists, after holding a summit in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to reduce tension, but the Kremlin denied making any promises to Macron regarding military moves.

Also in Kiev, the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia are continuing a joint visit, coinciding with the visit of German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock to review the situation in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

French President Macron said after his talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky - today, Tuesday - that it is now possible to move forward in talks between Russia and Ukraine, although he acknowledged that the risk of escalation still exists.

Macron stated that both Putin and Zelensky confirmed their intention to continue implementing the Minsk agreements, and saw this as "the path to peace."

The second Minsk agreement concluded in February 2015 between Russia and Ukraine - mediated by Germany and France - guarantees Ukraine's independence and control of its borders, and the disarmament of pro-Russian separatists. It also promised full autonomy for the Russian-speaking Donbass region within a decentralized Ukrainian federation.

For his part, Ukrainian President Zelensky expected a summit with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany soon, and said - in a press conference - after his talks with Macron, "We expect in the near future ... that we will be able to hold the next talks between the leaders of the Normandy Quartet," referring to the negotiations. aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

French President Macron had confirmed earlier that he had achieved his goal from his meeting with his Russian counterpart Putin - yesterday, Monday - to obtain confirmation that there would be no escalation.

Macron is the most important Western leader to meet with Putin since Russia began massing more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine.


No promises from Putin

But the Kremlin denied - today, Tuesday - that Putin had promised his French counterpart to refrain from conducting new military exercises near the borders of Ukraine, and Russian news agencies reported that new exercises began in southern Russia today.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said French assertions that Putin had promised Macron to refrain from the maneuvers were "incorrect".

He added that Russia and France had not yet been able to reach an agreement to reduce tension over Ukraine, but stressed that easing tension was necessary and that the meeting laid the basis for further work to this goal.

A French official had said that Putin had made this promise to Macron to refrain from maneuvers near the Ukrainian border, and added that the Russian president had also agreed to withdraw forces participating in military exercises in Belarus near the border with Ukraine immediately after the end of those exercises on February 20.

The Kremlin spokesman said that those forces will return to their bases in Russia after the end of the exercises, without specifying a date, but he indicated that no one said that the forces would remain in Belarus.

exercises in southern Russia

Meanwhile, Russian news agencies quoted a spokesman for the Southern Military District Command as saying that the Russian forces began night tactical exercises in the south of the country, which will last 3 weeks and include missile systems, tanks and armored vehicles.

The Russian media did not clarify whether these maneuvers were a new development or part of long-term plans.

Last December, Moscow announced that 3,000 maneuvers would be conducted in the southern region during 2022.

Russia's southern military region is located on the border with Ukraine, and includes the Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. But the list of ten regions in which the new maneuvers will be held does not include the territories on the border with Ukraine, but rather include areas in southern Russia and breakaway regions from Georgia .

On the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 6 warships were heading from the Mediterranean towards the Black Sea to participate in naval military exercises.

These exercises are part of a wide range of exercises covering various international oceans and seas, with the participation of 140 naval vessels and more than 10,000 soldiers.


Western powers accuse Russia of plotting to invade neighboring Ukraine.

On the other hand, Moscow denies this, but says that it may take military action - it did not specify - if a number of demands are not met, including obtaining a pledge from NATO not to include Ukraine in its membership.

In this context, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Europe "is going through the most dangerous stage for its security since the end of the Cold War."

And he added - during a press conference held with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Washington on Monday - that "a diplomatic way out of the crisis is still possible, and this is our clear priority, and this is what we invest all our efforts in. But at the same time, we are still resolute in our insistence on Further aggression against Ukraine will have dire consequences."

For his part, Blinken stressed that his country is not talking about a Russian invasion of Ukraine "out of intimidation", but "out of the facts in its possession."

"We have listened to Russia's concerns, and we have communicated our concerns about the steps it is taking to undermine security," he said. "The United States, the European Union, our NATO allies, and our partners in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have also put forward ideas on how to find a common agreement that enhances collective security."