French FM says no sign of Russia action in Ukraine

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has spoken against US insistence that Russia is set to invade neighboring Ukraine, saying there are no current indications to that effect, as more Europeans move to avert another US-led row with Moscow.

The remarks by France’s top diplomat came during a Wednesday interview with France 2 Television after Russian President Vladimir Putin censured Western governments on Tuesday for deliberately generating a scenario intended to lure his country into a war over Ukraine while ignoring Russia's security concerns about aggressive plans by the US-led NATO military alliance to expand closer to Russian borders.

Relations between Russia and the West have hit a new low in recent weeks as Washington, its NATO allies, and the Western-backed administration in Kiev have engaged in a massive publicity campaign accusing Russia, accusing it of planning an invasion of Ukraine by amassing troops near its border with that country. Moscow has denied harboring such plans, noting that it reserves the right to shift troops around within its own borders as a defensive posture in face of growing NATO war games nearby.

Le Drian made the remarks a day after Putin said the US had ignored Moscow's key concerns in its written response to Russian demands for legally binding security guarantees aimed at easing tensions with the West over Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron last month called for the EU to conduct its own dialog with Russia rather than supporting diplomatic efforts led by Washington and NATO.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned last week that Moscow would take unspecified "appropriate measures" if Washington and member nations of the military alliance refused to provide Russia with the security guarantees it was seeking.

SS