BERLIN — After two days of intense diplomacy on each side of the Atlantic in regards to the Ukraine disaster, the leaders of France, Germany and Poland mentioned their overriding objective was the preservation of peace in Europe, however warned Russia of dire penalties if it launched additional incursions into Ukraine.
“We share one goal,” Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, mentioned on Tuesday after the leaders met in Berlin. “Preserving peace in Europe with diplomacy and clear messages and the common readiness to act jointly.”
But, he made clear, peace couldn’t come at any worth. Speaking a day after assembly President Biden in Washington, Mr. Scholz continued: “A further violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is unacceptable and would lead to far-reaching consequences for Russia, politically, economically and surely strategically, too.”
It was one of many strongest statements but on the disaster from Mr. Scholz. Germany has confronted criticism for what has been perceived as a weak response to the large Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border. But the assembly with Mr. Biden appeared to have stiffened the resolve of the chancellor, who took workplace simply two months in the past.
He was flanked by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and President Andrzej Duda of Poland, who referred to as the state of affairs “the most difficult since 1989.” Europe, he added, “has not seen these kinds of troop movements since World War II.”
Poland’s sensitivities to Russian aggression are significantly acute after it spent the postwar many years trapped within the totalitarian Soviet imperium, and its sentiments are broadly shared in Central and Eastern Europe.
Mr. Putin’s massing of troops has brought on the United States to pivot to Europe, rekindled a NATO alliance targeted on its unique mission, and threatened the painstakingly constructed safety of the continent.
Mr. Macron started the day in Moscow after a gathering on Monday with President Vladimir V. Putin, and he met President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Kyiv earlier Tuesday. “We want to continue the dialogue with Russia to avoid the risk of escalation and allow for de-escalation,” he mentioned.
Earlier, Mr. Macron mentioned that he had secured from Russia a dedication to “no degradation or escalation” in Ukraine, opening new avenues of negotiation on the “collective security of the European space.”
But the Kremlin gave a extra guarded account. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, rejected stories that the 2 presidents had reached any settlement to de-escalate, and urged that it was the United States, not France, that had standing to barter such a deal.
In a 45-minute dialog with reporters on the airplane from Moscow to Kyiv, Mr. Macron mentioned he had by no means anticipated “for a second” that Mr. Putin would make some grand gesture, however he felt he had succeeded in his purpose to “freeze the game.”
That could seem a paltry goal, however with an estimated 130,000 Russian troops stationed simply exterior Ukraine, any pause can be a negotiating alternative.
If Mr. Putin has dedicated to not escalate, how lengthy that may maintain is unclear. The French president urged not less than a interval of weeks. But in Moscow, Mr. Peskov sounded a extra menacing be aware.
Despite “seeds of reason” in Mr. Macron’s method, he mentioned, “so far, we don’t see and feel the readiness of our Western counterparts to take our concerns into account.”
The disaster, he made clear, had not been defused, whilst Mr. Macron’s high diplomatic adviser judged the probabilities of conflict as “low.”
After talks with Mr. Zelensky, Mr. Macron mentioned each side have been open to pursuing peace in jap Ukrainian provinces seized by Moscow-backed proxies.
Mr. Zelensky, standing beside the French president in Berlin, described Mr. Putin’s opening to talks as “good if it is serious and not a game.” He appeared skeptical.
Officials representing Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany will meet in Berlin on Thursday to debate reviving the Minsk 2 settlement, which aimed to finish preventing within the separatist provinces in jap Ukraine. “This is the only road to a viable political solution,” Mr. Macron mentioned of the settlement, which has been affected by disputes over its which means and confirmed inoperable because it was concluded in 2015.
This problem, nonetheless, solely represents a small fraction of the issue, in that Mr. Putin has NATO in his sights as a lot as Ukraine’s breakaway provinces. More than a border dispute, the disaster poses the query of how European safety will probably be assured for a few years to return.
Sensing energy shifting in his route from a fractured United States, Mr. Putin needs to settle what he sees as accounts lengthy due from Russia’s humiliation by the West after the tip of the Cold War. NATO, by way of enlargement, supplied safety and stability to nations oppressed within the Soviet system, however on the worth of angering and alienating Russia in lasting methods.
Mr. Macron described Mr. Putin as locked in a “revisionist” logic. Officials near the French chief portrayed a Russian president hardened and inflexible — as if in a “bunker,” within the phrases of 1.
The United States and its allies have rejected as non-starters Russian calls for to stop NATO enlargement into components of Eastern Europe that Moscow considers to be in its sphere of affect. Mr. Putin additionally needs to push NATO again out of previously Soviet-controlled nations.
Mr. Putin has massed troops on Ukraine’s jap border but additionally to the north, in Belarus, the place tens of hundreds have gathered, nominally for navy workouts that can conclude on Feb. 20. Their presence has raised fears that the Russian president would possibly set up navy bases in Belarus, maintain troops there, and even deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of its neighbor. Kyiv is simply 140 miles from the Belarus border.
Mr. Macron mentioned he had secured assurances from Mr. Putin that the troops can be withdrawn instantly after the train. Mr. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, mentioned Mr. Putin didn’t give a date for the withdrawal, including: “No one has ever said that Russian troops would stay in Belarus. That was never on the agenda.”
Analyzing Mr. Putin’s habits earlier than arriving in Berlin, Mr. Macron mentioned the Russian chief “legitimizes what he does as reactive to NATO.” The consequence was that Mr. Putin, in his narrative, might at all times discover a pretext for aggression. “Every time we speak of the expansion of NATO, it’s met by Russian military action that reduces the sovereignty of Georgia or Ukraine,” Mr. Macron mentioned.
Pursuing a well-liked theme of a brand new configuration for European safety with a extra highly effective Europe at its coronary heart, Mr. Macron mentioned that “we have to think about the sovereignty and independence of these countries in a different form.” The independence of a rustic like Ukraine have to be assured, together with its sovereignty and the rule of regulation, but additionally its viability. This was a time, he argued, “for reimagining a way toward stability.”
In Berlin, Mr. Duda, the Polish president, had extra rapid considerations than Europe’s future strategic structure. “We’re all asking, what happens after? What will be result?” he mentioned. “It’s up to us to safeguard international law and territorial integrity, also for countries that are not members of the European Union or NATO, but they are our allies.”
He added: “We have to show we take no step backward. We leave nobody behind.”
Katrin Bennhold contributed reporting.