Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing the United States and NATO for not addressed Moscow’s main security demands in their standoff over Ukraine, but that it was ready to keep talking.
Putin offered his first reaction to the U.S. and NATO responses to Russia’s demands in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron after weeks of personal public silence on the crisis, in which Russia has massed troops near Ukraine.
According to Putin, he would study the responses provided by Washington and NATO this week before deciding on further action.
A French presidency official said Putin had underlined that he did not want the situation to escalate, echoing conciliatory comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said Moscow did not want war.