France warns Europe’s security framework “nearly obsolete”

• 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that there were “no more rules” governing European security and stability since arms control pacts - covering everything from intermediate-range nuclear missiles to transparency on military force movements - had become “nearly obsolete or irrelevant”.

In an interview for The Financial Times, he stressed that “while there is a demand from Russia for stability, for guarantees, there is also a demand for stability and for guarantees from our side.”

“Europe needs guarantees of security and stability. We’re ready to talk about it, about everything,” he added.

In an unusually de-escalating tone, Le Drian hailed Kremlin's "encouraging remarks" about troop reductions and diplomatic efforts, adding “if those signs are verified, it’s a small beginning. But we’ll need to see how the maneuvers in Belarus end, for example, how the maneuvers in the Black Sea and near the Ukrainian borders end. All of that is part of de-escalation.”

The French minister commented on the Russian parliament’s suggestion to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk regions by saying that Russia's recognition of two separatist areas in eastern Ukraine would be the same as an attack on the country's sovereignty, but without the weapons.

On his account, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Washington's response to key issues of Moscow's proposals on security guarantees was negative.

However, he highlighted, Russia was satisfied with a part of the response, describing it as "more constructive and includes concrete measures."

The West is accusing Russia of planning an invasion of its western neighbor despite Moscow dismissing these allegations.

Russia insists that it has no intention of attacking any country, seeing the Western accusations as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment close to Russia's borders.

At the same time, Moscow has been demanding a written commitment that Ukraine would never be able to join NATO and that the alliance would not place any strategic military equipment in certain countries in the region surrounding Russia.