After having exchanged with the Russian president, Emmanuel Macron called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to inform him of their exchange, announced the Élysée, this Sunday February 20, 2022.
This meeting of Emmanuel Macron, President-in-Office of the European Union, with Vladimir Putin, was presented in recent hours as that of the last chance to negotiate a diplomatic exit from the Ukrainian crisis while violations of the ceasefire are increasing. -fire.
” The telephone conversation with President Putin lasted 1h45. The President of the Republic is currently talking by telephone with President Zelensky “, indicated the French presidency.
Already on Saturday evening, on the sidelines of the security conference in Munich in which both participated, Emmanuel Macron had exchanged with his Ukrainian counterpart who had told him that he did not want to ” respond to provocations along the line of contact”according to the Elysee.
Volodymyr Zelensky told him “ entrusted to tell Vladimir Putin the readiness of Ukraine to dialogue “, underlined the French presidency. “ Russian military action against Ukraine would bring war to the heart of Europe », according to a French presidential adviser. There would then be no other option possible than a very strong reaction “, he added.
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Putin and Zelensky ready to try to reach a ceasefire
Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned this Sunday with Emmanuel Macron the ” Provocation ” Ukrainians in the aggravation of the fighting with the separatists in eastern Ukraine, while saying they want “ intensify » diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin also asked, during this telephone conversation, that NATO and the United States ” take seriously » Russia’s security demands, at the heart of the current crisis between Moscow and the West. The French and Russian presidents have agreed to do everything to quickly reach a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the Elysée announced.
Vladimir Putin repeated to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron “ its intention to withdraw its troops “from Belarus” at the end of the current financial years “Always according to the Elysée. “ You will have to check all this, it may take a little time added the French presidency. All in “ noting that the declarations of the Belarusian authorities claiming that Russian troops would stay, ” do not coincide with the words of President Putin “.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Sunday for the resumption of negotiations with Russia under the aegis of the OSCE and the establishment of a “ immediate ceasefire in the east, after his telephone interview with Emmanuel Macron. “ We call for the urgent convening of a meeting of the trilateral contact group [Ukraine, Russie, OSCE] Mr. Zelensky said on Twitter.
Continuing yesterday’s conversation, informed @EmmanuelMacron about the current security situation and new provocative shelling. We stand for intensifying the peace process. We support the immediate agreement of the TCG and the immediate introduction of a regime of silence.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 20, 2022
But on the ground and despite these phone calls “ last chance “, the fighting, and therefore the violations of the ceasefire, redouble. Faced with Russian troops amassed on the borders, Westerners will not be able to hold out forever. an olive branch in Moscow, said Charles Michel, President of the European Council, in Munich this Sunday morning.
Of course, the big question that remains is: does the Kremlin really want dialogue? A few days ago, his statements offered a small ray of hope, but we are witnessing a continuous military build-up with serious incidents in the Donbass, including today… we cannot eternally offer a branch of olivier as Russia conducts missile tests and continues to amass troops
Charles Michel, President of the European Council
For his part, US President Joe Biden is ready to “ meet ” Vladimir Poutine “ at any time “. ” It doesn’t matter the format if it helps to avoid a war in Ukraine, its head of diplomacy, Antony Blinken, said on CBS on Sunday. The Secretary of State also reaffirmed on CNN that the diplomatic route was still possible “ until the tanks are actually in motion and the planes in the sky “. President Joe Biden has convened a rare meeting of the National Security Council this Sunday evening.
The OSCE will hold an extraordinary meeting of its permanent representatives on Monday to try to find a solution to the crisis around Ukraine, announced the Polish chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. ” The meeting was called for Monday Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told the PAP news agency, responding to a request from Ukraine at a time when Russian-Western tensions around that country are at their highest.
• Crisis in Ukraine: Moscow faced with the challenge of Russian public opinion
For Moscow, the sole culprit in the ongoing military escalation in the Donbass is Kiev. Vladimir Putin repeated it to Emmanuel Macron. In the eyes of the Russian president, diplomatic efforts to find a solution must be intensified. But at the same time, communication aimed at public opinion is also intensifying.
For a little over 36 hours, in fact, the state media have presented Moscow as being at the bedside of refugees attacked in Donbass. In support, widely broadcast on all possible media, videos of worried elderly people or children fleeing with their stuffed animals are also multiplying on television screens.
Topics about Ukrainian spies described as perpetrators of sabotage are also circulating. And finally, like a model presented to Russian public opinion, we see images of the men of Donbass whom the press says are in a hurry to respond to the general mobilization of 18-55 year olds.
The narrative of victims forced to react seems, according to the latest polls, most likely to work among the Russian population. Always reluctant to a conflict, public opinion judges on the other hand, by an overwhelming majority, that it is the West which is responsible for the escalation of tensions around the Ukrainian neighbor.
A sign of the importance of this theme for the authorities: Alexander Bastrykine, head of the National Investigation Committee, was given the task of establishing ” evidence of criminal acts of Ukrainian forces in the territory of Donbass “. A mission entrusted to him directly by President Vladimir Putin.
With agencies