Diplomacy weekend fails to achieve major breakthrough
german chancellor
Olaf Scholz will make another attempt to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine after diplomatic efforts to avert war over the weekend failed to achieve a breakthrough.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will be in Kiev on Monday and in Moscow on Tuesday, intends to “continue discussions on the still very serious situation on the Ukrainian border”. In Kiev, it is important for me to express our continued solidarity and support for Ukraine,” Scholz wrote on Twitter.
“We are urgently awaiting signs of de-escalation from Moscow. Further military aggression would have very serious consequences for Russia. I completely agree with our allies on this point. peace in Europe.
It comes after a weekend of diplomacy in which US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that the United States would respond “swiftly and decisively” to further Russian aggression against Ukraine, according to a White House statement.
Biden spoke to Putin for about an hour on Saturday, but that did little to change Moscow’s position. A senior administration official told reporters after the call that the discussion was substantive, but the United States fears Russia could launch a military attack anyway.
The call between Biden and Putin came hours after the United States moved some of its forces out of Ukraine and on Saturday ordered the evacuation of most of its embassy staff over fears of an invasion.
cnn
