Ukraine: Nato chief warns of conflict with Russian

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French President Emmanuel Macron has said President Vladimir Putin assured him during their talks on Monday there will not be an escalation of the military activities near Ukraine. In recent weeks Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the borders of its neighbour. The build-up of troops has sparked fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as happened in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula.

Moscow has consistently denied its plans to invade and has accused western leaders and Ukraine for the current crisis.

Mr Macron held six hours of talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Monday before meeting Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kiev.

After their meeting, the French leader told reporters: “I secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation.”

However, Mr Zelenskiy was less optimistic, saying: “I do not really trust words. I believe that every politician can be transparent by taking concrete steps.”

Mr Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian President had not agreed a de-escalation deal with Mr Macron.

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He said: “This is wrong in its essence. Moscow and Paris couldn’t do any deals. It’s simply impossible.”

Amid the recent tensions, a security expert warned that Russia’s “firepower” is “impressive” after recent improvements.

Jonathan Marcus of the Strategy and Security Institute, University of Exeter provided an analysis of the situation for the BBC in December.

He said: “Invading territory amidst a hostile population has significant risks.

“Ukraine’s armed forces have had some western weaponry and training and are much improved since 2015.

“However, Russian forces have also improved over recent years.

“The firepower Russia is building up is impressive.

“For all the talk about Ukrainian sovereignty NATO cannot and will not come to Ukraine’s aid.”

NATO is the western military alliance of 30 countries, which include the UK, the US and many EU member states.

Ukraine is not a member of the alliance but is instead a “partner country”, meaning it may be allowed to join at some stage.

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Moscow is firmly opposed to Ukraine – which sits between Russia and Europe – becoming a fully-fledged member of NATO.

It has called on the US, NATO’s most powerful member, to bar Ukraine from the military bloc, citing security fears over its expansion.

However, US President Joe Biden’s administration has rejected Russia’s calls to halt its neighbour’s entry into the alliance.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had made its “core principles” clear and that, as an independent country, Ukraine was free to join NATO.

Mr Peskov also made reference to the US rejecting Russia’s demands as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday.

He said: “France is a leading country in the EU, France is a member of NATO, but Paris is not the leader there.

“In this bloc, a very different country is in charge. So, what deals can we talk about?”

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