Macron Proposed to Hold a Biden-Putin Summit

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed to hold a meeting of the leaders of the United States and the Russian Federation. The parties accepted the offer. The summit will take place only if Russia does not invade Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron held telephone talks with US and Russian leaders Joseph Biden and Vladimir Putin. As the Elysee Palace website reported on Monday, February 21, the French head of state proposed to hold a summit between Biden and Putin, and then with all interested parties, on security and strategic stability in Europe. Presidents Biden and Putin have agreed to hold such a summit, the French side notes. The content of this meeting is to be prepared by United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their talks on February 24. The summit will take place if Russia does not invade Ukraine The Biden-Putin summit can take place only if Russia does not invade Ukraine, the Elysee Palace stressed. To prepare the content of the upcoming discussions, Emmanuel Macron plans to work with all interested parties. In turn, the head of the White House press service, Jennifer Psaki, pointed out that Washington is “committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion (of Russia into Ukraine – Ed.) begins.” Growing tensions near the borders of Ukraine Over the past few days, tensions in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have increased dramatically. On February 19 alone, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission counted more than 1,500 ceasefire violations. Biden expresses confidence that the Kremlin has already decided to invade and, among other things, intends to seize Kyiv. According to Western intelligence agencies, about 150,000 Russian servicemen are stationed in the regions along the Ukrainian border. The concern of the West in this regard is growing. Moscow says it is not planning an attack. DW