Today, Monday, a French official suggested that the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American Joe Biden would resolve the Ukraine crisis, declaring that the summit might take place in a “neutral ground.”
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Bonn told LCI that France sees “diplomatic hope” for resolving the Ukraine crisis after Biden and Putin agreed on the principle of holding a summit between them.
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Bonn told LCI that France sees “diplomatic hope” for resolving the Ukraine crisis after Biden and Putin agreed on the principle of holding a summit between them.
“There is reality on the ground, there is tension on the ground, with a large Russian military deployment on the borders of Ukraine, with violations of the ceasefire over the weekend in Donbas on the front line, and at the same time we have diplomatic hope,” he added.
“If there is still an opportunity to avoid war, avert disaster and build a political and diplomatic solution, it must be seized,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that the Europeans are not ready to make any “unacceptable” concessions.
Clement Bonn announced that the Putin-Biden summit could be held in “neutral territory”, but that no decision has been taken yet. He said, “Usually such events take place in a neutral place, but no decision has yet been taken in this regard.”
Biden had agreed in principle to meet with Putin based on the proposal of their French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, a surprising position that comes at a time when Westerners are talking about an imminent Russian military intervention in Ukraine.