Ukraine: International diplomacy in overdrive to avert Russia-Nato clash

French, Russian presidents due to talk in Moscow, while German chancellor has travelled to US to meet President Biden in Washington

German, Czech, Slovak and Austrian foreign ministers to meet in pro-Western Kyiv; thousands of Russian troops still massed on border

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Diplomatic cars in front of the residence of the French ambassador in Moscow on Monday, prior to the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said a meeting of the leaders was important in resolving tensions over Ukraine, but significant breakthroughs could not be expected. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:46pm, 7 Feb 2022Updated: 11:28pm, 7 Feb 2022

International efforts to defuse the stand-off over Ukraine intensified on Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Moscow and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington to coordinate policies as fears of a Russian invasion mounted.

The build-up of an estimated 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fuelled Western worries of a possible offensive. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day,” triggering a conflict that would come at an “enormous human cost”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives in Washington on Monday. Photo: dpa

Russia has denied any plans to attack its neighbour but demands that the US and its allies bar Ukraine and other former Soviet nations from joining Nato, halt weapons deployments there and roll back Nato forces from Eastern Europe. Washington and Nato reject those demands.

Macron, who is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin before visiting Ukraine on Tuesday, spoke by phone on Sunday with US President Joe Biden to discuss “ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts,” according to the White House.

Shortly after landing in Moscow on Monday Macron told reporters: “I’m reasonably optimistic but I don’t believe in spontaneous miracles.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, foreground, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pay homage to famine victims during her visit to Kyiv on Monday. Ukraine has played down warnings that Moscow has stepped up preparations for a major incursion. Photo: AP

In an interview with French newspaper Journal du Dimanche before his trip the French leader said the security and sovereignty of Ukraine “or any other European state cannot be a subject for compromise, while it is also legitimate for Russia to pose the question of its own security”.