Putin’s speech came during a call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday, about the developments in the Ukraine crisis.
According to the Kremlin, Putin also demanded during this call that NATO and the United States take Russia’s security demands “seriously”, in the midst of the current crisis between Moscow and Western countries.
“Serious concerns were expressed about the significant deterioration of the situation on the front line in Donbass,” the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that Putin “considered the provocations of the Ukrainian security forces as the source of the escalation.”
The Russian president also considered that the delivery of modern weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian forces by Western countries was “pushing Kiev towards a military solution” in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists, which has been going on since 2014.
Putin added, “Kiev does nothing but imitate a negotiation mechanism and stubbornly refuses to implement the Minsk agreements” signed in 2015, which is supposed to resolve the conflict.
“Given the urgency of the situation, the (Russian and French) presidents acknowledged that they agreed to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said, as the goal was “to facilitate the declaration of a ceasefire and ensure progress towards resolving the conflict.”
Bowen also reiterated “the need for the United States and NATO to take Russia’s demands for security guarantees seriously and respond concretely and substantively.”
Russia, which the West accuses of amassing 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine in preparation for its invasion, is asking Kiev to obtain a pledge that it will not join NATO, and to stop the alliance’s military reinforcements on its borders, but Western countries have rejected these demands.