Europe faces ‘most dangerous moment’ over Russia-Ukraine tensions
According to ALJAZEERA, Europe is going through its most dangerous moment since the Cold War amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
“We are living, to my understanding, the most dangerous moment for security in Europe after the end of the Cold War,” Borrell told reporters on Monday.
His comments came as French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he aimed to avoid war and build trust during a visit to Moscow.
The trip makes Macron the first top Western leader to visit Moscow since Russia began massing troops on the border with Ukraine.
Macron, who is expected to seek re-election in April, has positioned himself as a potential mediator on Ukraine, with Paris voicing scepticism about predictions by Washington and other Western capitals that a Russian assault is imminent.
Macron told the Russian president he was seeking a “useful” response “that of course allows us to avoid war and to build bricks of trust, stability, visibility”. Putin, for his part, said Russia and France shared “a common concern about what is happening in the security sphere in Europe”
“I see how much efforts the current leadership of France and the president personally is applying in order to solve the crisis related to providing equal security in Europe for a serious historical perspective,” Putin said.
On the eve of his trip, Macron, who is also due in Kyiv on Tuesday, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper: “The geopolitical objective of Russia today is clearly not Ukraine, but to clarify the rules of cohabitation with NATO and the EU.”
On his arrival, Macron told reporters: “I’m reasonably optimistic but I don’t believe in spontaneous miracles.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said ahead of the talks: “The situation is too complex to expect decisive breakthroughs in the course of one meeting.”
In Washington, United States President Joe Biden said as he hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that they were “working in lockstep” to address the crisis. Biden said diplomacy is the best way forward for all sides in the standoff.
Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders. It denies planning an invasion, but says it is ready to take unspecified “military-technical measures” if its demands are not met, including a promise by NATO never to admit Ukraine and to withdraw some troops from Eastern Europe.
