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Kremlin Sees ‘Positive Signals’ After Macron Visit to Kyiv

president.gov.ua

The Kremlin said Wednesday there were "positive signals" for the resolution of the Ukraine crisis following a meeting of the French and Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv. 

French President Emmanuel Macron met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday amid a flurry of European diplomacy aimed at defusing fears that Moscow could invade Ukraine. 

"There were positive signals that a solution to Ukraine could be based only on fulfilling the Minsk agreements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to accords signed in 2015 between Kyiv and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. 

He added, however, that there was no indication from Zelenskiy that Ukraine's authorities were ready to "quickly" do what "Kyiv should have done long ago."

"So there are positive signals and there are less positive" signals, Peskov said. 

Speaking at a joint press conference with Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Tuesday, Macron said he saw a path toward easing tensions. 

Both Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Macron saw on Monday, said they remained committed to the Minsk peace agreements, the French leader added.

With tens of thousands of Russian troops camped near the Ukrainian border, Macron was the first top Western leader to meet Putin since the crisis began in December.

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