WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden continues to put pressure on Ukraine on Russian leader Vladimir Putin after US President Joe Biden announced the deployment of a smaller army to Eastern Europe, even as top Pentagon officials stoked a renewed push for diplomacy. supported giving.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western leaders to avoid "panic" over the massive Russian military build-up on their country's borders, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.
Neither Putin nor his European and American counterparts have so far appeared ready to give ground in the weeks-long crisis, the worst in decades between Russia and the West. But according to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call that lasted more than an hour that he had "no aggressive plans."
In Washington, Biden nevertheless said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster NATO's presence in Eastern Europe as tensions rise. At the Pentagon, top officials urged a focus on diplomacy, saying Russia now has enough troops and equipment to threaten the whole of Ukraine. Any such conflict, warned Mark Milley, the top US general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, would be "terrible" for both sides.
"If this were implemented on Ukraine, it would be important, very important, and would result in a large number of casualties," Milley said.
But speaking with Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that "there is still time and place for diplomacy. Mr. Putin can also do the right thing," Austin said. "There's no reason this situation has to turn into a conflict."
During his talks with Macron, Putin "expressed no aggressive plans and said he wanted to continue talks with France and our allies," said an aide to the French president.
"Their talks enabled us to agree on the need to de-escalate," the aide told reporters. Putin said "very clearly that he did not want a confrontation."
Since October, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 combat troops and equipment as well as support forces along its border with Ukraine and most recently in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north.
"We don't need this panic," Ukraine's leader Zelensky said at a news conference with foreign media, expressing concern over "signals even from respected leaders". He said he tried to avoid harming his country's already battered economy.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller tweeted: "Poland supports Ukraine in deterring Russia's aggression." "We will do everything possible to maintain peace in Europe."
The Kremlin said Putin made it clear to Macron that the West's written response to his demands this week fell short of Russia's expectations. According to a readout of the Kremlin's call, Putin said, "The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concerns, including halting NATO expansion." He said the West had overlooked the "important question", that no country should strengthen its security at the expense of others, adding Russia would "carefully study" the responses, "after which he would further will decide on its actions." Russia has also sought the withdrawal of NATO forces stationed in Eastern European and former Soviet countries that joined the coalition after the Cold War.
In a sign of continuing tension, Russia announced on Friday evening that it had added several EU officials to a list of people banned from entering the country, saying they were responsible for "anti-Russian policies".