Macron talks with Russia, Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Moscow on Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the five-hour meeting, he told reporters Putin promised not to send additional troops to Ukraine’s border. Macron then flew to Kyiv on Tuesday to mediate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next he went to Berlin to speak with the German chancellor and the Polish president. Macron plans to meet Putin again and then convene talks with presidential advisers of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine on Thursday.

What happened at the meetings? Putin said some proposals Macron discussed have “basis for further steps” in a compromise but denied making promises to limit his troop buildup. Zelenskyy said he would welcome de-escalation from Putin but does not trust verbal promises. In Washington, President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday and vowed to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany if Russia invades Ukraine. U.S. officials estimate Putin has 70 percent of the force needed to launch a full-scale attack and could invade the country any day.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jenny Lind Schmitt report on the Russia-to-Germany pipeline on The World and Everything in It podcast.