Macron says Putin told him he would not escalate Ukraine crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured him that he will not escalate the Ukraine crisis.

After a five-hour talk with Putin, Macron said the Russian leader “won’t be initiating an escalation” and the “objective is met” for preventing an escalation of the conflict, according to a news conference covered by The Associated Press.

However, the Kremlin denied reports that a de-escalation agreement was struck, the AP noted.

Macron met with Putin on Monday after concerns about the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine increased over the weekend as U.S. officials said Russia had amassed 70 percent of the forces needed for a full invasion and could attack any day. Russia has denied those reports and any claims that it will invade Ukraine.

The U.S. is preparing for a potential conflict and has deployed around 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe for support. But officials are still hoping to resolve the conflict diplomatically, despite refusing to give in to Russian demands, including a commitment not to include Ukraine within the security alliance NATO and to roll back forces in Eastern Europe.

President Biden on Monday met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and presented a united front with the European leader, who has been questioned over his response to the Ukraine crisis and for not sending weapons to the nation. But Biden warned that any incursion into Ukraine would “bring an end” to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an important energy project for Russia under German control.

Macron also met with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and said both he and Putin were willing to implement the Minsk Protocol, according to The Associated Press. The Minsk Protocol is an agreement to end conflict in Ukraine after Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from the country in 2014, but Russian-backed separatist forces have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea.

Presidential advisers from France, Russia, Ukraine and Germany will meet on Thursday in Berlin to discuss the conflict further, the AP reported.