\u201cno offensive plans\u201d
\n moscow
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a \u201cde-escalation\u201d in the Ukraine crisis during a call on Friday, with the Russian leader saying he had \u201cno offensive plans\u201d, an aide to Macron said. The two leaders spoke for more than an hour on Friday morning during a call that was described by the French side as \u201cserious and respectful\u201d which highlighted \u201cfundamental differences\u201d but also a \u201cjoint desire\u201d to keep talking.
\nThe conversation \u201cenabled us to agree on the need for a de-escalation,\u201d the aide said during a briefing with journalists.
\nFrance hosted more than eight hours of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Paris on Wednesday which were seen as a test of whether Putin wanted to lower tensions, having massed around 100,000 troops on Ukraine\u2019s border.
\n\u201cPresident Putin expressed no offensive plans and said he wanted to continue the talks with France and our allies,\u201d the French official said on Friday, adding that the Russian leader \u201csaid very clearly that he did not want confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macron said earlier this week that Russia was behaving as a \u201cpower of disequilibrium\u201d in the region but had also made clear he wanted to speak with Putin, whom he invited to France for talks during his summer holidays in 2019.<\/p>\n
His relatively conciliatory tone has contrasted with the more strident rhetoric about the probability of a Russian invasion from France\u2019s NATO allies the UK and United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the ball is in Putin\u2019s court,\u201d Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio Friday before the phone call between the leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes he want to be the one to say that Russia is a power of disequilibrium, or is he ready to show de-escalation?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s up to Vladimir Putin to say if he wants confrontation or consultation. We are ready for consultation. But it still takes two to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Le Drian said that there was \u201cof course\u201d still the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, warning that such a move would have \u201cmassive repercussions\u201d for Moscow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cno offensive plans\u201d moscow French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a \u201cde-escalation\u201d in the Ukraine crisis during a call on Friday, with the Russian leader saying he had \u201cno offensive plans\u201d, an aide to Macron said. The two leaders spoke for more than an hour on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-241529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n