2 yıl önce

Ukraine urges West to be 'vigilant and firm' in negotiations with Russia

Western officials say Russia has amassed over 100,000 troops and mustered air and sea assets in the region, creating a complex threat like none seen since the Cold War.

AP

Moscow has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

Kiev has called on the West to remain "vigilant and firm" in its talks with Russia amid fears Moscow could invade Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba issued the call on Saturday during a phone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Kuleba thanked Paris for the decision not to evacuate the families of its diplomatic staff in Kiev, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The US, Britain and Australia recently angered Kiev by ordering the families of diplomats to leave their embassies in Ukraine.

The sides "stressed the importance of being vigilant and firm in contacts with the Russian side", the ministry's statement said, as well as continuing "to promote a political and diplomatic settlement" of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.

Both Kuleba and Le Drian underlined the need to "refrain from steps that could fuel anxiety" in Ukrainian society and "undermine the financial stability" of the post-Soviet country, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Britain is poised to offer NATO a "major" deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets in Europe next week, that could see London double the approximately 1,150 UK troops currently in eastern European countries and "defensive weapons" sent to Estonia, Johnson's office said late on Saturday.

'Need for de-escalation'

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged his Western partners to avoid stirring "panic" over the massive Russian troop buildup, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.

According to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call lasting more than an hour that he had "no offensive plans".

To Macron, Putin made clear that the written responses from the West to his demands this week had fallen short of Russia's expectations, the Kremlin said.

Moscow has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

Russia has also demanded a pullback of NATO forces deployed to eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.

Although the West has rejected Russia's key demands such as stopping new members join the alliance, they have laid down a raft of areas where it see room to negotiate with the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has deployed over 100,000 troops and heavy armour along Ukraine's borders, according to the West, which fears that the Kremlin will stage an incursion.