(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin called accusations against Russia of an imminent invasion of Ukraine “provocative speculation” during a meeting with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, according to a Kremlin statement.
Posted at 11:25 a.m.
“Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation related to provocative speculations about an alleged “Russian invasion” of Ukraine, which is accompanied by large-scale deliveries of modern armaments to this country”, according to this press release. the Russian presidency.
The Kremlin also considers that these accusations and these military means create “the preconditions for possible aggressive actions by Ukrainian forces in the Donbass”, a region in eastern Ukraine where Russia has been supporting armed separatists for eight years.
Mr Putin again complained about the refusal of the United States and NATO to accept “Russian initiatives” to reduce tensions, namely to guarantee Russia’s security by renouncing any future enlargement of the NATO, to Ukraine in particular, and by withdrawing the Alliance’s military assets from Western Europe.
He also accused Kiev once again of seeking to derail the peace process in the Donbass war.
MM. Macron and Putin, according to the Kremlin, want to continue the Franco-Russian dialogue on this file “at the highest level”.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is presented as potentially imminent by Washington, as Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian borders, and is also carrying out maneuvers in the Black Sea and in Belarus, de facto encircling its pro-Western neighbor .
Moscow denies any such plans, but has already annexed Ukrainian Crimea in 2014 and supports pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.