Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him that Russia would not escalate the Ukraine crisis further.
Russia maintains that it has no intention of invading Ukraine but is seeking security guarantees, including a commitment that Ukraine will never be admitted to NATO. The West has rejected this, but has indicated an interest in discussing other issues, such as arms control.
Putin warned for the second time in a week that if Ukraine joined NATO, European countries would be automatically drawn into a military confrontation with Russia in which "there will be no winners."
Macron stated that finding a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions, which constitute the largest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, would take time.
His comments during a visit to Kyiv came as the Kremlin denied reports that he and Putin had reached an agreement to de-escalate the crisis. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, stated that "in the current situation, Moscow and Paris cannot reach any agreements."
The Kremlin wants guarantees from the West that NATO will not allow Ukraine to become a member and other former Soviet republics, that it will halt weapon deployments in those countries, and that it will withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe - demands that the U.S. and NATO regard as "non-starters."
Macron met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the face of growing concerns about a Russian invasion. Moscow has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, but maintains no intention of attacking.
Meanwhile, Putin's intentions remain opaque following more than three months of high tensions sparked by his troop buildup near Ukraine's borders. At the weekend, the White House stated that he could order an attack within days or weeks.
Macron is expected to press Putin for commitments to de-escalate tensions. "The situation is far too complicated to expect decisive progress during a single meeting," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing.
He added, however, that Russia was aware of certain ideas for reducing tensions that Macron had previously discussed and intended to share with Putin.
Macron told a news conference following his meeting with Zelenskyy that Putin assured him during their more than five-hour meeting Monday that "he will not initiate an escalation."
Putin also stated, according to the French president, that there will be no Russian "permanent (military) base" or "deployment" in Belarus, where Russia had sent a large contingent of troops for war games.
Peskov also disclosed that withdrawing Russian troops from Belarus following the maneuvers was always the plan.
