PARIS (Parliament Politics Magazine)- On Monday, Emmanuel Macron will have all the attention as he talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. As temperatures between Russia and the West over Ukraine continue to rise, French President Emmanuel Macron says his visit would focus on diplomacy and de-escalation.
In the meantime, Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor is in DC, where he will meet with President Biden, as diplomatic efforts to find a solution intensify.
Western countries accuse Russia of plotting an invasion of Ukraine as a result of its enormous force build-up along the border, which Moscow denies, claiming that it is merely trying to ensure Russian security by halting NATO’s eastward advance.
Russia has gathered 130,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and is integrating war games with Belarus, one of its allies.
On Monday afternoon, Macron will arrive in Moscow, and his meeting with the Russian president will take place in the evening, followed by a joint press conference, according to the Elysée Palace.
There will be talk about the parameters of the de-escalation. Being realistic is what is needed. Though unilateral gestures will not be given, it’s necessary to avoid a worsening of the situation, according to the newspaper Journal du Dimanche, the French president stated.
Scholz is being questioned in the United States
Olaf Scholz, who is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House, has said that if Russia attacks, it will pay a “high price,” but the refusal of his government to to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, strengthen Germany’s troop presence in Eastern Europe, or specify which sanctions it will support against Russia has drawn international and domestic criticism.
Scholz refused to give any explicit assurances when questioned about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline’s future, which aims to send Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
He told German public channel ARD that “nothing is ruled out.”
Schroeder, who has accused Ukraine of “saber-rattling” in its confrontation with Russia, has been selected to be a part of the board of directors of the Russian state-owned gas corporation Gazprom, which is certain to embarrass Scholz before his first official trip to Washington.
Scholz’s spokeswoman has declined to comment on Schroeder’s ties to Putin on multiple occasions.
