Russia dashes hopes of peace over Ukraine

MOSCOW/PARIS • Russia yesterday distanced itself from suggestions that the Ukrainian issue would be resolved peacefully, stating that there were no concrete plans for a summit over the issue between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United States counterpart Joe Biden.

France had earlier claimed that such a summit was on the cards and could offer a path out of Europe's biggest military crisis in decades.

European financial markets had edged higher on the glimmer of hope for a diplomatic solution. The markets fell into the red soon after news broke that a summit might not be on the table.

Both Washington and Moscow played down hopes of a breakthrough, and satellite imagery appeared to show Russian deployments closer to Ukraine's border than before.

Mr Putin even reopened debate on whether all parts of Ukraine were independent. He told his security council yesterday it was necessary to consider an appeal from two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, for Russia to recognise them as independent. Mr Putin also said in televised remarks that the threat to Russia would substantially increase if Ukraine were to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

"The use of Ukraine as an instrument of confrontation with our country poses a serious, very big threat to us," Mr Putin said.

Western countries accuse Russia of planning to invade Ukraine, a neighbour that it had controlled for centuries until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Moscow denies planning any attack but has demanded sweeping security guarantees, including a promise that Ukraine will never join the US-led Nato.

Russia's military said yesterday that Ukrainian military saboteurs had tried to enter Russian territory in armed vehicles, an accusation dismissed by Kyiv amid Western accusations that Moscow could fabricate a pretext to invade using a "false flag' event.

Russia has tens of thousands of soldiers in Belarus - part of what Washington says is a force now numbering 169,000 to 190,000 troops in the region, including pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron had broached and supposedly arranged talks between Mr Biden and Mr Putin, before Russia dismissed the suggestion.

However, the European Union rebuffed a call from Kyiv to impose some sanctions now to try to avert war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a call or meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Biden could be set up at any time, but there were no concrete plans yet for a summit. Tensions were growing, he said, but a foreign ministers' meeting was possible this week. Mr Macron's office and the White House said the substance of the plan would be worked out by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting planned for Thursday.

The White House said Mr Biden had accepted the meeting "in principle" but only "if an invasion hasn't happened".

"We are always ready for diplomacy," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences, should Russia instead choose war."

Western countries say the sanctions they are preparing would hit Russian companies and individuals. People familiar with the matter said they could include barring US financial institutions from processing transactions for Russian banks.

The crisis has raised worries about the stability of energy supplies to Europe. Germany, which relies on Russia for around half of its natural gas, said its supply was currently "secured".

US-based satellite imagery company Maxar on Sunday reported new deployments of Russian units in forests, farms and industrial areas as little as 15km from the Ukrainian border. Sporadic shelling across the line dividing government forces from the pro-Russian insurgents has intensified since last Thursday.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE