Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 09, 2022 at 16:14 IST
On February 8, 2022, the European Union (EU) leaders pledged Unity in their aim of averting the war as the President of France, Emmanuel Macron sought to ease tensions with Russia over the Ukraine crisis after an urgent round of shuttle Diplomacy.
Macron arrived in Berlin after two days of talks in Kyiv and Moscow, and urged to continue a ‘firm dialogue’ with Russia as the only way of preventing Russia from invading Ukraine.
On February 7, 2022, Macron had a five hour meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron stated that Putin had told him that Russia “would not be the source of an Escalation” even though it amassed more than 1 lakh troops and military hardware on the border of Ukraine.
Macron stated that he saw a possibility for talks with Russia and Ukraine to ease tensions through concrete and practical solutions. In Berlin, he stated, “We must find ways and means together to engage in a firm dialogue with Russia.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that France, Poland and Germany
“are united by the goal of maintaining peace in Europe through Diplomacy and clear messages and the shared will to act in unison.”
Polish leader Andrzej Duda stated that the war could be averted. The EU Diplomatic Chief Joseph Borrell was also optimistic about the talks and stated that there was a hope of not going into military confrontation.
On February 10, 2022, high ranking Officials will have separate talks in Berlin, which could pave a way for a summit with leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany for reviving peace.
Putin who had demanded security guarantee form NATO and the United States stated that he would take measures to find compromises that would suit everyone. The French Presidency stated that a strategic dialogue will be launched and an agreement will make sure that 30,000 Russian soldiers are withdrawn from Belarus.