Putin and Macron meet to defuse Ukraine tensions as Kyiv warns Moscow

French President Emmanuel Macron has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday that he hopes talks in Moscow can lead to an easing of tensions over Ukraine.

“This discussion can make a start in the direction in which we need to go, which is towards a de-escalation,” Macron says at the start of the meeting in Moscow.

He adds that he hopes to “avoid a war” and “build elements of confidence, stability and visibility for everyone.”

Putin hails France’s efforts to strengthen European security.

“I see how much effort the current French leadership is making to resolve the issue of security in Europe… namely, to resolve the crisis in the southeast of Ukraine,” Putin told Macron at the start of talks in Moscow.

Meanwhile, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warns Moscow against trying to split Kyiv from its Western allies.

“No one, no matter how hard anyone tries in Russia, will be able to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its partners,” Kuleba says at a press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Kyiv.

UK  Defense Secretary Ben Wallace meanwhile announces that 350 more British troops would be sent to the Polish border, to shore up NATO’s eastern flank against any Russian aggression.

Wallace says the troops will strengthen a contingent of 100 British soldiers already there and would be a “bilateral deployment to show that we can work together and send a strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side.”