Yesterday (20 Feb 2022) Macron and Putin had TWO calls, as reported by David M. Herszenhorn, Giorgio Leali and Suzanne Lynch.
Call 1:
"The Kremlin on Sunday used a telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron to broadcast an array of provocative, unproven allegations of belligerence by Ukraine and NATO countries, insisting the West was “pushing Kyiv towards a military solution to the so-called Donbass problem.”"
Call 2:
"But in a second Macron-Putin call held hours after the first, after the French president had also spoken with his American counterpart Joe Biden, the Kremlin and Biden “in principle” agreed to hold a bilateral summit, followed by a meeting with all relevant parties, on the security situation in Europe, according to the Elysée. The Kremlin did not immediately publish its own readout of the second call or confirm Putin had agreed to the summit." (Politico : 20 February 2022) (my emphasis)
Channel 4 News : YouTube : 20 Feb 2022
Macron, it would seem, is a glutton for punishment from Putin.
No doubt, bearing in mind the upcoming French presidential elections in April of this year, and the public knowledge that Macron fancies himself as the heir to Merkel's former leadership in the EU; we can expect Macron to continuously beat the drum of the Russian Trojan Horse of Minsk2 protocols as a way of preventing Putin from invading Ukraine for the second time, with all the global consequences that such an invasion will also precipitate.
And whilst Macron is 'politically grandstanding' on the international stage as a means of bolstering his chances in the upcoming French presidential elections, the BBC reports that,
The talks proposed by France will only take place if Russia does not invade its neighbour, the White House said.
...
In a statement that confirmed the proposal, the White House also said Russia appeared to be "continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon", and that the US was ready to impose "swift and severe consequences" should it happen." (BBC News : 21 February 2022) (my emphasis)
In the background, Putin continues his 'invasion' of Ukraine by using his proxies in the occupied Donbas.
As reported by Tim Lister, Olga Voitovych, Kostan Nechyporenko, Julia Kesa and Denis Lapin,
"The Ukrainian defense ministry has reported further ceasefire violations in the east, after a day of heavy weapons fire Saturday.
The ministry said that in the first 11 hours of Sunday, "20 incidents of ceasefire violation by the Russian occupation forces were observed, including 18 incidents when the Russian occupation forces utilized weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements." ......
Ukraine said it recorded a total of 136 ceasefire violations on Saturday." (CNN : 20 February 2022) (my emphasis) (video: RFERL : YouTube : 19 February 2022 )
As also reported by Michael Starr and Reuters,
At the Munich security conference, Reznikov said "The command of the Russian occupation forces allocates artillery and armed vehicles among residential buildings and from there, shells our localities. It is the behavior of criminals who provoke us to make mistakes." (MSN : 21 February 2022) (my emphasis)
It is Putin who is giving the command for these attacks against Ukrainians by his proxies in the Donbas.
It is these attacks by Putin's proxies in the Donbas that will serve as his argument for a full invasion of Ukraine.
It is these attacks that gives the lie to Putin's telephone tête-à-tête calls with Macron in which he claims to seek a peaceful solution with Ukraine rather than to invade Ukraine for the second time.
US President Biden is correct in stating that,
"The talks proposed by France will only take place if Russia does not invade its neighbour, the White House said."
The constant diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing between Putin and diplomats from the US, Great Britain, and the EU may have run its course.
As reported by the Mail Online,
"Vice President Kamala Harris warned about the 'real possibility of war in Europe' as sources alleged that Russian commanders on the ground have received orders to proceed with an invasion of Kiev, and that they're now making specific battle plans.
.....
No less than 75 percent of Putin's conventional forces are now poised at the Ukrainian border as Blinken warned that 'we are on the brink of an invasion'.
Ongoing tensions prompted Biden to convene a National Security Meeting while Harris wrapped up a Munich Security Conference, where she called the situation a 'decisive moment' for world leaders who 'still sincerely hope that there is a diplomatic path out of this moment.' " (Mail Online : 20 February 2022) (my emphasis)
We are now on the brink of war.
STOP PRESS
BBC News Monday 21 February at 15.12
Russian Duma calling for rebel areas in Donbas to be recognized as Independent states. Putin can then flood rebel areas with Russian troops.
Is this Putin's next gambit?
STOP PRESS 2
Putin has played his gambit!
The touchpaper for war has been lit.
21 February 2022
(to be continued)
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