Europe 1 with AFP 10:28 a.m., February 21, 2022
Yet announced by France, the Kremlin deemed Monday "premature" to speak of a summit of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to defuse the Russian-Western crisis around Ukraine and the danger of a Russian invasion.
“Talking about concrete plans for organizing summits is premature,” Moscow said.
The Kremlin deemed Monday "premature" to speak of a summit of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, however announced by France to defuse the Russian-Western crisis around Ukraine and the danger of a Russian invasion.
"There is an understanding that we should continue the dialogue at the level of (foreign) ministers. Talking about concrete plans for organizing summits is premature," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry told reporters. Peskov.
>> READ ALSO
- Crisis in Ukraine: but what does Vladimir Putin really want?
Putin will chair a meeting of his Security Council
“A meeting is possible if the (Russian and American) heads of state deem it useful,” he added, noting that Biden and Putin always have the possibility “when necessary” to speak to each other “on the phone. or in some other way".
Vladimir Putin is due to chair a midday meeting of his Security Council on Monday, a powerful body that brings together the main Russian decision-makers, in particular the leaders of the army and the intelligence services.
The French presidency announced overnight from Sunday to Monday that Biden and Putin had each "accepted the principle of such a summit", specifying that these talks would then be extended to "all stakeholders" in the Ukrainian crisis on condition that Russia does not attack its Ukrainian neighbor.
An "extremely tense situation" in eastern Ukraine
The announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron spoke twice with the Russian president and once with the US leader.
A meeting of the heads of Russian and American diplomats, Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken, is scheduled for Thursday.
The Kremlin also re-emphasized that the "situation remains extremely tense" on Ukraine's eastern front, between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists backed by Moscow.
"This is worrying," said Dmitry Peskov, whose country holds Ukraine responsible for the worsening situation on the ground, accusing it of wanting to commit "genocide" of Russian-speaking populations.
Westerners see the hand of Moscow behind the intensification of fighting for several days on the front line and fear that this will serve as a pretext for Russia, which has massed 150,000 troops on the Ukrainian borders, to launch a massive attack against its neighbor pro-western.
Moscow defends itself from any project of invasion of Ukraine but claims that the country never integrates NATO and also the withdrawal of the Alliance from Eastern Europe, all requests rejected by the West until now. here.