French President Emmanuel Macron was in an awkward position on Tuesday. The Russian government denied his claim that President Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with the French head of state the day before, had pledged to reduce the military escalation on the border with Ukraine.
This Tuesday, after a meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Macron declared that, at the meeting in Moscow, Putin told him that “he will not start an escalation. I think it’s important”.
However, in statements to journalists also on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov denied that Putin had made such a commitment. “This is wrong in essence. Moscow and Paris cannot make any deals. It’s just impossible,” Peskov said, suggesting that a treaty could only be established with the United States.
“France is a leading country in the European Union, France is a member of NATO [aliança militar do Ocidente], but Paris is not the leader. In this bloc, a country [Estados Unidos] very different is in charge. So what businesses can we talk about?”
Russia claims it is massing troops on the border with Ukraine (Kiev says the contingent already exceeds 100,000) for the purpose of self-defense. Moscow claims a permanent veto on Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO and for the military alliance to return to pre-1997 positions, when several former communist bloc countries began to join the organization.
#Russia #denies #Macrons #claim #Putin #pledged #reduce #military #escalation