Ukraine: Putin blames Kyiv for escalation, but calls for ‘stepping up’ diplomacy

Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned Sunday with Emmanuel Macron the Ukrainian “provocations” in the worsening of the fighting with the separatists in eastern Ukraine, while saying he wanted to “intensify” diplomatic efforts to settle the dispute.

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According to the Kremlin, Mr. Putin also asked, during this telephone conversation with his French counterpart, that NATO and the United States “take seriously” Russia’s demands concerning its security, at the heart of the current crisis. between Moscow and the West.

“Serious concerns have been expressed about the sharp deterioration of the situation on the line of contact in Donbass,” the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that Putin “noted that the provocations of the Ukrainian security forces were origin of escalation.

The Russian president also considered that the deliveries of modern weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian forces by the West “push Kiev towards a military solution” in its conflict with the pro-Russian separatists, which has lasted since 2014.

“Kiev is only imitating a process of negotiations and stubbornly refuses to implement the Minsk agreements” signed in 2015 and supposed to settle the conflict, Mr. Putin continued.

“Given the urgency of the situation, the presidents recognized that it was necessary to intensify the search for solutions by diplomatic means”, also indicated the Kremlin, the aim being to “facilitate the restoration of the ceasefire -fire and to ensure progress in the resolution of the conflict”.

Vladimir Putin also “reaffirmed the need for the United States and NATO to take Russia’s requests for security guarantees seriously and to respond to them in a concrete and substantial way”.

Russia, accused of having massed 150,000 soldiers on the borders of Ukraine with a view to an invasion, demands the promise that Kiev will never integrate NATO and an end to the military reinforcement of the Alliance on its borders. These demands were rejected by Westerners.


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