PARIS (AFP, REUTERS) - Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Paris for talks on Wednesday (Jan 26) in a bid to defuse soaring tensions, with France seeking to usher both sides down a "path to de-escalation".

The high-level meeting, attended by senior diplomats from France and Germany, brings together the four countries in a format that has been used repeatedly since Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian province of Crimea.

Russia is represented by Vice-Prime Minister Dmitri Kozak and Ukraine by presidential adviser Andriy Yermak, with diplomatic advisers to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also taking part in the talks.

France, which floated ideas for a "de-escalation" on Monday and is keen for Europe to try to solve the crisis, is hoping that Russia is prepared to engage in talks at a time when it has massed 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border.

"It's very encouraging that the Russians agreed to enter into this diplomatic format again, the only one in which the Russians are stakeholders," an aide to Mr Macron said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

"This meeting will give us a clear indication of the Russians' mindset before the call between Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday."

Each side is expected to brief the media later in the day.

'Indication’ Putin plans force by mid-February: US

The United States believes that Mr Putin remains poised to use force against Ukraine by mid-February, a top diplomat said on Wednesday.

“I have no idea whether he’s made the ultimate decision, but we certainly see every indication that he is going to use military force some time perhaps (between) now and the middle of February,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told a forum.

Ms Sherman, who met her Russian counterpart earlier this month in Vienna in an attempt to warn Moscow against invading its neighbour, said that Mr Putin’s planning may be affected by the Winter Games in Beijing.

“We all are aware that the Beijing Olympics begin on Feb 4, the opening ceremony, and President Putin expects to be there,” Ms Sherman told the Yalta European Strategy forum. “I think that probably President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine, so that may affect his timing and his thinking.” 

Ms Sherman said that the US was “pushing for diplomacy”, but also “preparing for the worst”.

Separate talks between Russia and the US have been held in recent weeks to discuss Russian security demands in Europe, including that Ukraine should never become a member of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance.

After discussions last Friday in Geneva, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Washington would give a written response to Russian demands and also floated the idea of a presidential meeting.

'Play the game'

The talks in Paris on Wednesday come as Western powers keep up their warnings of massive economic sanctions in the event of a Russian attack on pro-Western Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday of personal sanctions on Mr Putin, while the White House said the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine "remains imminent".

Russia warned on Wednesday that imposing sanctions on Mr Putin personally would not hurt him, but would be "politically destructive".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US congressmen and senators discussing personal sanctions against Russia's top leaders were ignorant of the fact that they were legally barred from holding assets, property and bank accounts abroad.

Individual sanctions against Mr Putin would be "not painful (but) politically destructive", said Mr Peskov, who has previously said they would amount to a severing of diplomatic relations.

Britain also said on Wednesday that it was not ruling out personal sanctions against Mr Putin.

Asked about possible sanctions on the Russian leader, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky: "We're not ruling anything out.

"We'll be bringing forward new legislation to make our sanctions regime tougher so we are able to target more companies and individuals in Russia. We will be bringing that forward in the next few days. I'm not ruling that out."

She also said Britain was supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine.

Concerned about the rhetoric in Washington and London, and their decision to withdraw some embassy staff and families in Kiev, an aide to Mr Macron warned on Monday about "creating any ambiguity or creating any additional volatility".

"We want a de-escalation, which means both dialogue and dissuasion," the aide said on Wednesday.

"Discussions about sanctions with our European and American partners, with institutions, is taking place to ensure that this dissuasion is sufficiently credible, so that the dialogue is credible. They are linked," the aide added.

"But the sanctions must not lead to retaliation that will boomerang on us and have a cost. Sanctions are not be-all and end-all of the response."

The US has also been drawing up plans to shore up European gas supply should Russia cut off shipments through its pipelines in response to Western sanctions.

The White House announced on Tuesday that Mr Biden would meet the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Jan 31 to discuss, among other issues, "ensuring the stability of global energy supplies".

The European Union relies on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies. Any interruptions to its Russian imports would exacerbate an existing energy crisis caused by shortages.

Confidence building

The French plan, as detailed by an aide to Mr Macron on Monday, would entail both Ukraine and Russia taking steps to build confidence.

Ukraine's government has made the first move envisaged by the French by withdrawing a Bill in Parliament governing the status of Russian-backed separatist provinces in the east of the country, which Moscow sees as violating previous commitments.

Paris is hoping that Russia will agree to some "humanitarian measures" such as prisoner exchanges in eastern Ukraine and the opening of checkpoints manned by the separatists.

France would also push for "a public statement from the Russians about their intentions that reassures everyone", the aide said.

One major possible area of discord is France's backing for talks between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists in the east - something that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused to do.

Senior diplomatic advisers from the four Normandy Format countries last spoke by video-conference in September last year, according to Mr Macron's office.

The leaders last met for a four-way summit in Paris in December 2019.