The National Times - EU leaders vow unity as Macron sees path on easing Russia tensions

Arriving in Berlin after two days of talks that took him to Kyiv and Moscow, Macron urged continued "firm dialogue" with Russia as the only way to defuse fears Russia could invade its ex-Soviet neighbour.

The French leader, who on Monday had a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin, said the Russian president had told him that Russia "would not be the source of an escalation", despite amassing more than 100,000 troops and military hardware on Ukraine's border.

Macron said he now saw the "possibility" for talks involving Moscow and Kyiv over the festering conflict in eastern Ukraine to move forward, and "concrete, practical solutions" to lower tensions between Russia and the West.

"We must find ways and means together to engage in a firm dialogue with Russia," he said in Berlin, where he was to debrief German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish leader Andrzej Duda on his Kremlin meeting and his talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Standing alongside Macron and Duda, Scholz stressed the trio "are united by the goal of maintaining peace in Europe through diplomacy and clear messages and the shared will to act in unison".

The Polish leader said he believed that war could still be averted.

"We have to find a solution to avoid war," said Duda. "As I've said, this is currently our main task. I believe that we will achieve it. In my opinion what's most important today is unity and solidarity."

- 'Compromises' -

The focus will now turn to separate talks involving high-ranking officials in Berlin on Thursday that Zelensky said could pave the way for a summit with the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany aimed at reviving the stalled peace plan for Kyiv's conflict with Moscow-backed separatists.

Putin -- who has demanded sweeping security guarantees from NATO and the United States -- said after his talks with Macron that Moscow would "do everything to find compromises that suit everyone".

He said several proposals put forward by Macron could "form a basis for further steps" on easing the crisis over Ukraine, but did not give any details.

At the same time as sending its military hardware to Ukraine's borders, Putin has issued demands the West says are unacceptable, including barring Ukraine from joining NATO and rolling back alliance forces in eastern Europe.

The French presidency said Macron's counterproposals included an engagement from both sides not to take any new military action, the launching of a strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process for Ukraine's conflict.

It also said an agreement would ensure the withdrawal of some 30,000 Russian soldiers from Belarus at the end of joint military exercises later this month.

The Kremlin insisted that it never had any intention of leaving the troops permanently on Belarusian territory.

The West faces a tough task trying to convince a wary Zelensky to accept any compromises.

Kyiv has laid out three "red lines" it says it will not cross to find a solution -- no compromise over Ukraine's territorial integrity, no direct talks with the separatists and no interference in its foreign policy.

Moscow is pressuring Ukraine to offer concessions to the Russian-backed rebels who have been fighting Kyiv since 2014 in a conflict that has claimed over 13,000 lives.

Ukraine says the Kremlin wants to use the two breakaway eastern regions Russia supports as leverage to keep the country under Moscow's sway.

- Russia sends warships -

Russia has denied it is planning an invasion -- but the US warns it has massed 70 percent of the forces it would need for a large-scale incursion.

Moscow kept bolstering its forces around Ukraine on Tuesday as it announced six warships were heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean as part of previously planned global maritime manoeuvres.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told local television that Kyiv was planning to hold its own exercises involving Western-supplied anti-tank missiles and Turkish combat drones in response to the Russian-Belarusian drills.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden ramped up the pressure on Moscow by warning he would "end" the controversial new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if tanks rolled into Ukraine.

Biden's declaration at a press conference with Scholz was the bluntest so far on the fate of the massive pipeline, which is complete but has yet to begin funnelling natural gas.

Scholz will be in Moscow and Kyiv next week for talks with Putin and Zelensky.

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P.Johnston--TNT