According to the Kremlin, during the phone call between Putin and Macron it was agreed “to facilitate the restoration of the ceasefire and to ensure progress in resolving the conflict”. Moscow also emphasized that in the conversation, Putin blamed “provocations” by the Ukrainian army for the “escalation” in eastern Ukraine. The deliveries of modern weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces from the west are pushing “Kiev towards a military solution” in the conflict with the pro-Russian separatists, which has been going on since 2014.
Macron wants to consult with Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday. According to information from Paris, the French President might also telephone British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and “other close partners”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington intends to continue diplomatic efforts “until tanks actually roll into Ukraine and planes are in the sky.” Biden is ready to talk to Putin in any format “if that can prevent a war”. Blinken made it clear once more that Washington expects Russian troops to invade Ukraine in the near future.
“Everything we’re seeing suggests this is very serious, that we’re on the brink of invasion,” said Blinken, who gave a series of TV interviews on Sunday. A meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Europe is still planned, “unless Russia invades in the meantime,” emphasized the US minister.
At the moment, however, there is still diplomatic leeway. Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told Fox News. “We still think there’s time to stop that.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Moscow of breaking its promise because of the announcement of further military maneuvers on the Ukrainian border. “We see that Russia has promised to withdraw, but Russia has continued to increase the deployment, more troops stationed at the border,” Stoltenberg told ARD on Sunday.
Russia’s ambassador in Washington dismissed Western fears of an imminent invasion. “There is no invasion and there are no such plans,” Anatoly Antonov told US broadcaster CBS. Russia wants to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve all outstanding issues. “Well, unfortunately we expect everything,” Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, told the broadcaster. “We will work day and night to seize every opportunity to prevent Russia from invading.”
A massive Russian troop deployment on the Ukrainian border, including the major Belarusian-Russian maneuvers, are fueling fears of an impending Russian attack on Ukraine. In the embattled east of Ukraine, violence has been increasing for days. The Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian militias in the conflict area have recently accused each other of numerous violations of the ceasefire.
