Leaders of multiple nations are meeting as they try to find a way out of the crisis.
PARIS — Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the escalating crisis over Ukraine for the first time in over a month on Tuesday as a series of high-level talks were underway to avert the threat of war. The prime ministers of Britain and Poland were in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the prime minister of Hungary met with Putin in the Kremlin. Here are things to know Tuesday about the international tensions surrounding Ukraine, which has an estimated 100,000 Russian troops massed along its borders. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban lobbied for larger shipments of Russian natural gas during a meeting with Putin. While no formal agreement was reached, Orban’s request underscored the close economic and diplomatic ties that Hungary — a member of both the European Union and NATO — has pursued with Moscow. Those actions have raised eyebrows in some European capitals. Hungary has avoided taking a definitive stance on the Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s borders, but Orban on Tuesday urged a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. “I viewed my current visit as a peace mission as well,” Orban said. “I was able to tell the president that the European Union is united, and that there is not a single European Union leader who wants a conflict with Russia.” The British prime minister told Zelenskyy the Russian military buildup is “perhaps the biggest demonstration of hostility toward Ukraine in our lifetimes.” Asked if the U.K. was exaggerating the threat from Russia, he said: “That is not the intelligence we are seeing. This is a clear and present danger.” Johnson said the U.K. has a package of measures including sanctions ready to go “the moment the first Russian toecap crosses further into Ukrainian territory.” But Johnson said he still believed it was possible that Russia would choose a path of diplomacy. He was scheduled to speak with Putin on Wednesday. Putin said the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia’s top security demands but added that Moscow is still open for more talks with the West on easing soaring tensions over Ukraine. In his first comments in over a month about the crisis, Putin argued that it’s possible to negotiate an end to the standoff if the concerns of all parties, including Russia’s, are taken into account.
