Vladimir Putin was on Tuesday warned of “very, very hard” consequences if Russia invades Ukraine, as Germany beefed up its response to the threat and international diplomacy intensified in Kiev.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz issued the warning after a meeting with US president Joe Biden, in which he also declared Russia should understand “a lot more could happen than they’ve perhaps calculated themselves” if its troops crossed the border into Ukraine.
Mr Scholz added that the US and Germany were “absolutely united” on imposing sanctions if an invasion takes place, although he declined to match Mr Biden’s pledge to “bring to an end” Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, saying instead that it was “part of the process that we do not spell out everything in public”. The German support came as French president Emmanuel Macron flew to Kiev to meet Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky following his five-hour meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow.
Mr Macron said the pair had enjoyed “substantial, deep” exchanges and that the forthcoming days would be “crucial” with further discussions needed “to build new guarantees for peace and security”.
He added: “Right now, the tension is increasing and the risk of destabilisation is increasing. Neither Russia nor the Europeans want chaos or instability. So we need to agree on concrete measures.”
Mr Putin said he was willing to consider some of the ideas put forward by Mr Macron for defusing the crisis, without giving details. He warned, however, that if Ukraine is allowed to join Nato and attempt to retake Crimea, then a major European conflict could break out.
In Washington, Mr Biden used his joint press conference with Mr Scholz to warn that it would be a “gigantic mistake” for Mr Putin to send troops into Ukraine, and that he was advising US citizens to leave because of the danger.
He added that Russia “was in a position now to invade” because of the size of its military force on the Ukrainian border but that there remained an “off ramp” option for Mr Putin to pull back.
It came as Boris Johnson wrote in The Times that Britain will not “flinch” and is ready to respond to Russia’s aggression with sanctions and the deployment of Royal Marines, RAF Typhoons and Royal Navy warships to eastern Europe.
