Macron, Merkel meet with Ukrainian president over Russia threats

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a bid to show their support for Kyiv amid Russian military movements near Ukraine’s border that the Western world sees as an escalation of already tense relations between the two neighbors.

A massive buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine has sparked new tension in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena, were greeted by Macron and his wife, Brigitte, before lunch at the Elysee presidential palace. The two heads of state planned to meet with Merkel by videoconference.

“Ukraine’s sovereignty is under threat,” Macron’s office said Thursday, adding: “All our work is aimed at avoiding an escalation and defusing tensions.”

Zelenskiy’s meeting with the leaders of France and Germany, who have been mediators in the conflict since 2015, came as Ukraine accuses Russia of threatening to destroy it.

“THEY ARE openly threatening Ukraine with war and the destruction of Ukrainian statehood,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a press conference with counterparts from the fellow former Soviet countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. “The red line of Ukraine is the state border. If Russia crosses the red line, then it will have to suffer,” he warned.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said, “It’s time to stop talking and to make decisions.” He said Friday’s talks notably aim at discussing security issues.

“Europe’s security is depending on Ukraine’s security,” he said, adding his country is seeking support from the European Union and the NATO alliance. “I would very much like Europe to have a 100% understanding of how they assess Ukraine. If they see Ukraine in the European Union, they need to say it openly.”

Asked how long it takes to return Russian-annexed areas, he said: “People who do not live in Ukraine sometimes say that everything is clear with Donbass, it will return, and Crimea will never be returned. Other people, even in Ukraine, say that we will see the return of Donbass, and Crimea, perhaps, only after the president in Russia changes.”

“I live in a different paradigm. For me, Crimea and Donbass did not go anywhere, and these are our territories,” he added. “There are people in Crimea who once shouted that Russia would come and they would be a “pearl by the sea.” But nothing happened. It has become worse, there is no tourism, no enterprises, no work, high prices, no water. Therefore, I believe that there is no future for them without Ukraine.”

Zelenskiy said Thursday after chairing a meeting of Ukraine’s security council that the discussions in Paris are important for preparing the so-called “Normandy format” talks involving the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany. Their last meeting in Paris in December 2019 helped ease tensions but failed to make any progress on a political settlement.

“Our goal... is to de-escalate tensions,” a French official at the French presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the talks, said. “All the work we’re doing is in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the official said.

The Kremlin on Friday called on Macron and Merkel to encourage Ukraine to observe cease-fire agreements in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists. The German and French leaders should communicate to the Ukrainian leadership the “need to decisively stop any provocative actions on the contact line and emphasize the need for an unconditional observance of the ceasefire regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

In recent weeks Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, as well as on the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Russia’s Defense Ministry says the troops are merely responding to “threatening” actions by the NATO alliance and participating in military drills. Ukraine, where a pro-Kremlin president was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014, has made clear its ambition to join NATO.

Thursday’s visit to Kyiv by senior diplomats from the Baltic states is the latest show of support from European countries and the United States, which has warned of “consequences” if Russia acts “aggressively” toward Ukraine.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Merkel called on Russia to reduce its border deployment. Biden had a day earlier proposed a summit with Putin – an offer that Russia is still considering. Some observers have cast the escalation as an attempt by both Moscow and Kyiv to test Biden to see how far he is willing to go to defend Washington’s ally and confront Russia. Biden raised hackles in Russia last month by agreeing with a description of Putin as a “killer.”

His administration on Thursday rolled out a sweeping set of sanctions on Russia over its election interference, hacking campaigns and other malign activity. Acting in partnership with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the U.S. sanctioned Russian people and entities that have supported Russia’s claimed annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which is not recognized by the international community, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday a MiG-31 fighter jet had escorted an RC-135 U.S. strategic reconnaissance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Kamchatka, Tass news agency reported. The ministry said the U.S. aircraft had not violated Russia’s borders. The ministry said that after the “fighter jet deployed the foreign military aircraft it safely returned to the airfield.”