The announcement was unexpected as war seemed imminent. On the night of Sunday February 20 to Monday February 21, France and the United States jointly declared that a summit between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden might take place“in the next few days”, to ease tensions on the Ukrainian border. For several weeks, Russia has been posting troops there and accuses NATO of getting closer to its territory.
► What would this summit look like?
For the moment, no details on the place or the date of a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have been communicated. Only one condition for a face-to-face meeting between the two presidents has been set by the United States: that Russia does not invade its Ukrainian neighbor, as feared the continuous arrival of troops at the border. About 150,000 Russian soldiers are currently massed there.
This summit on Ukraine might be prepared during the meeting between the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, scheduled for Thursday, February 24. The various actors in this crisis remain mobilized to avoid an armed conflict. Russians, Americans and Europeans highlight the need for a « dialogue » and one “diplomatic solution”.
Monday, February 21 in the morning, the Ukrainian authorities welcomed the idea of a summit, hoping for a withdrawal of the Russian armed forces.
► Can such a meeting really take place?
The project might be nipped in the bud. The Kremlin quickly dampened hopes on Monday by judging “premature to talk regarding a Russian-American summit. “There is an agreement on the fact of having to continue the dialogue at the level of ministers. Talking regarding concrete plans for organizing summits is premature”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“A meeting is possible if the Heads of State deem it useful”he tempered, stressing that the two heads of state always have the possibility ” when it’s necessary “ to talk to each other “on the phone or otherwise”.
► What role for French diplomacy?
Since the start of the crisis, Emmanuel Macron has acted as an intermediary, as a recourse to avoid the outbreak of a war at the gates of the European Union. It was the Elysée which first announced the holding of a summit between the master of the Kremlin and the American president.
→ REPORT. In Ukraine, tension is rising relentlessly
The day before, the French president met twice with Vladimir Putin. It was during his second interview that he would have obtained the agreement of the Russian president. The US president then confirmed the meeting.
This hope for detente comes following a weekend marked by the breakdown of the ceasefire between Ukraine and the pro-Russian separatist republics. “There is a reality on the ground, a tension on the ground with a Russian military presence which remains extremely strong at the gates of Ukraine, with throughout the weekend a whole series of ceasefire breaches in the Donbass on the front line, and then at the same time a diplomatic hope that has been rebuilt”said Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, on LCI Monday morning.