The heads of France and Germany expressed support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, calling on Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine’s borders in a swift effort to “de-escalate the situation” amid serious unrest, as the Ukrainian president visited Paris.
In a statement, the German Chancellery said that the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine were all “concerned about the increase in Russian troops on the Ukrainian border” during a video conference and called on Moscow to withdraw “these reinforcements in order to achieve détente.
The French presidency’s Elysee Palace added that German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron made clear their “support for the sovereignty of Ukraine and its president,” noting that Ukrainian President Dzerensky had made his desire for “détente” very clear.
For weeks, clashes between Kiev and pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine have been intensifying in the Donbas. Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops nearby, raising fears of a major military operation.
Kiev and Moscow have been at loggerheads since Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in the Donbas region that killed more than 13,000 people, with both sides shirking responsibility for triggering the conflict and escalating tensions.
Moscow accuses Kiev of “provocations” and NATO of “threats”. Ukraine, for its part, accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” it and asked for NATO protection. And NATO’s rescue of Ukraine is seen by Moscow as a red line that cannot be crossed.
In Paris yesterday, Ukrainian President Zelensky called for a “quadripartite meeting” between Russia, France and Germany and Ukraine. He said, “I hope that all four of us will participate” to discuss “the security situation in eastern Ukraine” and to stop “the occupation of our territories.”
The Kremlin anticipates the outcome of this Franco-German-Ukrainian video conference. A Kremlin spokesman before the videoconference called on Paris and Berlin to use their “influence” on the Ukrainian president to stop Ukraine’s “provocations” on its eastern territories.
Against this turbulent backdrop, Zelensky reiterated in Paris that Ukraine wants to join NATO and the EU as soon as possible. “We cannot stay in the NATO waiting room indefinitely,” he told the French newspaper Le Figaro.
However, many alliance members, including France, are reluctant to allow Ukraine to join for fear of angering Moscow, given Russia’s fierce hostility to its membership in NATO and the EU.
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