Macron: Putin promised me not to escalate

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed today, Tuesday, that he had obtained from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during their talks, “there is no deterioration or escalation” in the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine.

“The goal for me was to stop the game, to prevent an escalation and to open up new possibilities,” Macron said. Macron’s statement came to reporters on a plane taking him from Moscow to Kiev, where he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is massing Russian forces in large numbers at his country’s borders.