Feb 10, 2022: Hope is rising that efforts to stop Russia from invading Ukraine could begin to bear fruit, as diplomatic pressure mounts on Thursday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to meet Baltic leaders in Berlin and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson heading to NATO and Poland.

In the wake of the worst standoff between Russia and the West since the Cold War, diplomatic action has begun to accelerate, with European leaders zipping across the continent to defuse the crisis. Before meeting with Baltic leaders, Scholz said he had seen “progress” on the diplomatic front.

The new German chancellor, who has been accused of failing to decisively address the crisis, will travel to Kyiv and Moscow next week for separate meetings with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, including President Vladimir Putin in their first is face to face meet.

On a less optimistic note, Britain on Wednesday did say it was ready to deploy 1,000 more troops to deal with any humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Speaking to Moscow ahead of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Moscow must choose a peaceful path in Ukraine or face “major consequences” from Western sanctions.

Following the message, Johnson will meet with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Thursday before his Polish counterpart.

Following his own diplomatic round, French President Emmanuel Macron said Putin had told him that Moscow “would not be a source of escalation.” For now, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that “diplomacy continues to reduce tensions.”

But amongst the hopeful atmosphere, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby warned that Putin would continue to send troops to the border.

On the other hand, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said the Russian forces on the frontier did not appear to be ready to launch an all-out assault, and were instead being used primarily “for political pressure and blackmail” at this stage.

After his talks with Macron, Putin said that Moscow would “do everything to find compromises that suit everyone”. He said several proposals put forward by Macron could “form a basis for further steps” on easing the crisis over Ukraine but did not give any details.

In addition to sending its military hardware to Ukraine’s borders, Putin has issued demands that the West says are unacceptable, including barring Ukraine from joining NATO and withdrawing coalition forces in Eastern Europe.

The French presidency said Macron’s response proposals included no new military action by both sides, the launch of a strategic dialogue and efforts to restore peace in the Ukraine conflict.

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