French President Emmanuel Macron said he was optimistic ahead of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin due to take place Monday in Moscow.
"I am moderately optimistic about the meeting, but I do not believe in immediate miracles," said Macron, quoted by BFM television.
Macron has started a visit to Russia on Monday, during which he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders have held phone talks three times in the past 10 days. As indicated earlier in the Elysee Palace, one of the topics at the meeting of the French and Russian presidents will be the situation around Ukraine.
Lately, there have been allegations in Western countries as well as in Kiev about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov called such information an empty and groundless escalation of tension. He stressed that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations to justify such statements and warned that attempts to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine by force would have the most serious consequences.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS