Diplomacy track Macron and German Chancellor visit Russia and Ukraine to heal the rift

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday in the Russian capital Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday in Kiev, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Russia for talks with Putin on February 15.

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday in the Russian capital, and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in Kiev, the Elysee Palace announced Friday, in a new diplomatic effort to reduce tension in the Ukraine crisis.

In recent days, Macron has intensified telephone contacts with Putin and Zelensky, as well as with US President Joe Biden, in an effort to mediate in the crisis.

The two meetings will be held separately, according to the Elysee, but "in coordination with European partners."

In this context, the French presidency stated that Macron and his advisers held consultations with a number of their European counterparts during the past days.

Tension remains high, with Washington confirming Thursday that it has evidence, which it did not present, that Moscow plans to portray a fabricated Ukrainian attack targeting the Russians, to justify an invasion of Ukraine.

However, Kiev is showing more restraint, and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said Thursday that the risks of a "significant escalation" of the conflict remain "low."

On Thursday, Macron held talks by phone with Putin and Zelensky.

The Kremlin announced that Putin and Macron discussed, in particular, the "security guarantees" demanded by Moscow during their third phone call this week on this issue, referring to a "constructive" dialogue.

While the importance of the European Union seemed limited during the first Russian-US talks on Ukraine, the French president has been seeking for weeks to put Europe back into the equation, while for years he has called for the "strategic independence" of the European Union.

The last meeting between Macron and Putin dates back to 2019, when the French president invited him to "Fort de Bregançon" in southern France.

Macron was scheduled to visit Moscow in the spring of 2020, but the visit was postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic.

For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin on February 15, the Kremlin announced Friday, while tension escalates between Moscow and Western countries over Ukraine.

"Schulz will visit Moscow on the 15th," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the two leaders would hold "substantive" bilateral talks.

The spokesman also confirmed French President Emmanuel Macron's visit on Monday to Moscow, where he will meet Putin.

On February 14, the German chancellor will travel to Kiev before moving to the Russian capital to meet in turn with Putin, according to German government spokesman Wolfgang Buchner on Friday.

Buchner said: "In addition to the bilateral talks, the focus will be on international issues, including security issues."

Germany and France are the mediators in the conflict in Ukraine with the Moscow-backed separatists, knowing that the settlement of this conflict has stalled after eight years of fighting.

In recent weeks, Schulz faced criticism for his lack of a politically active presence in this thorny issue. On Thursday, the German chancellor will receive the leaders of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, according to the spokesman.

The three Baltic states that are members of the European Union express security concerns in light of the Ukraine crisis.

The meeting between Schulz and Putin is the first visit by the German chancellor to Russia since taking office in December.

Schulz is accused of adopting unstable positions on Ukraine, especially after Germany refused to deliver weapons to Kiev.

The German chancellor and the French president are seeking to ensure a comprehensive containment of tension between the Russians and the West over Ukraine, after Moscow deployed thousands of its soldiers on the Ukrainian border and raised fears of a possible invasion.