Macron: Europe Needs a New Balance

"An agreement to avoid a full-scale war in Ukraine is possible, and Russia's concerns about its own security are legitimate", said French President Emmanuel Macron. He is in Moscow for talks on the crisis with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The visit is part of a diplomatic shuttle to avoid conflict. Tonight, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has his first meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

"Europe needs a 'new balance' that protects European countries and calms Russia's concerns", the French leader said ahead of talks in Moscow. "Russia's goal is not Ukraine, but clear rules for coexistence with the European Union and NATO," Macron said. He warned that one-sided gestures could not be expected. According to him, the situation must now be prevented from deteriorating before the establishment of mechanisms and reciprocal gestures of trust. In recent days, Emmanuel Macron has had telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, as well as with Joe Biden. Russia has said it is aware of Macron's plans to ease tensions over Ukraine but noted that there has been nothing new in recent days on requested security guarantees.

The situation is too complicated to expect a decisive breakthrough in one meeting. Tomorrow Macron is in Kyiv. One of the goals of his tour is to buy time and freeze the situation for several months, at least until the "super-month" of April. Reuters notes that there are elections in France, Hungary and Slovenia. Now the French president wants to demonstrate European leadership with sights to the vote, although he has not yet announced his candidacy for a new term. A number of Eastern European countries are suspicious of his approach to Russia, especially when it comes...