German Chancellor Expects Russia to Make Steps to De-escalate Situation Around Ukraine

BERLIN (Sputnik) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he expects Russia to make steps to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine amid the latest spike in regional tensions.

"An important issue is also how to act jointly in relation to a very serious situation along the Ukrainian-Russian border. There are a lot of military personnel stationed there, so everything must be done so that the situation develops differently than the way it is sometimes feared," he said at a conference after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We therefore expect from Russia unequivocal steps that would contribute to the de-escalation of the situation. And we are unanimous that military aggression will entail grave consequences."

Scholz noted that he welcomes negotiations in numerous formats with Russia, including within the Normandy format.

"It should be so. We take the situation seriously, we clearly say what will happen if it comes to military aggression - it happens. And thirdly, at the same time we are doing everything to get out of this situation through talks," he said.

Scholz's remarks came after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sidestepped questions on whether Germany would be sending troops to eastern Europe amid the latest spike in regional tensions.

"As an alliance, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and, at the same time, we naturally stand together as an alliance, but we should not confuse Ukraine with the alliance's territory," she said at the time.

Over the last several months, the US has repeatedly accused Russia of planning to invade neighboring Ukraine, a claim that Moscow has rejected as "nonsense." While Russia has acknowledged troop movements, it has underscored that it has a right to move soldiers within its territory freely, and that it has no desire to invade Ukraine.