French President Emmanuel Macron discussed his upcoming visits to Moscow and Kiev on a call with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, the French ambassador in Washington, Philippe Etienne said on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2022) French President Emmanuel Macron discussed his upcoming visits to Moscow and Kiev on a call with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, the French ambassador in Washington, Philippe Etienne said on Monday.
The two discussed the Ukraine crisis by phone on Sunday, the White House said. The call took place a day before Macron's visit to Russia, which will be followed by his trip to Ukraine. It was their second conversation in a week. The first took place on Wednesday, following the Pentagon's announcement of the deployment of additional American forces to Poland, Germany, and Romania over the Ukraine crisis.
"Our President, my President wanted to discuss with the President of the United States his visits to Moscow and Kiev," Etienne said in a conversation on Washington Post Live.
Etienne added that the two leaders also exchanged their assessments of the Ukraine crisis and the way forward.
Macron will meet with Putin in Moscow on Monday. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two presidents are expected to discuss European security, bilateral relations and the Ukraine situation.
The West accuses Russia of a troop build-up near the Ukrainian border as part of preparation for an "invasion." Moscow has denied these accusations, stating that it is not threatening anyone and pointing instead to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.
Moscow insists it has the right to move troops within its national territory. Russia also warns Western countries that military deliveries to Kiev may encourage the latter to use them against the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Donbas. The United States has been in the process of delivering $200 million worth of security assistance to Ukraine approved by Biden in December.
The US, meanwhile, is sending an additional 3,000 American troops to Eastern Europe in response to the mounting tensions.
