Paris – AFP
The French presidency announced, on Monday, that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on Ukraine is “possible”, but that Putin must “make his decision” to hold it.
After a series of talks in this regard between French President Emmanuel Macron and his two counterparts, the Elysee Palace said: “It is possible to go towards (convening) a summit, and bring together the parties concerned.” He added: “Now, President Putin must make his decision,” noting that the situation is still “Very dangerous.”
The French presidency pointed out that “it is up to the Russians and the Americans to agree on the terms of the summit.”
But the Kremlin said Monday that it was “too early” to talk about a similar summit, dimming hopes raised by the French announcement that the threat of an invasion of Ukraine had been defused.
According to the French presidency, the Kremlin and the White House agree that there is still a need to meet certain conditions for a similar meeting.
The Élysée clarified that these conditions are “the non-invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and that the Russian and American foreign ministers can work on the core issues that should be discussed at the summit.” It is assumed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart Anthony Blinken will meet in Europe on Thursday to discuss this.
One of Macron’s advisers admitted that “the situation is still very dangerous”, recalling the bombing operations carried out by separatists in eastern Ukraine and the risk of using them as a “pretext” for a “large-scale” military operation.