President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said that Russia came up with security guarantee proposals for the United States and NATO to head off a war in Europe.
Putin made these remarks after hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, Russian news agency Sputnik reported.
"As for whether we want this, of course not. That is why we proposed negotiations that should result in an arrangement guaranteeing equal security for all, including our country," Putin told a news conference after he was asked whether a war was looming over Europe.
German Chancellor said that negotiations on Ukraine should be held in the framework of a trilateral contact group.
Scholz told a briefing after talks with the Russian President that the Minsk Protocol "is a good starting point for a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine, between Donbas and the Ukrainian government."
He added that "negotiations should be held there specifically [in the framework] of the trilateral contact group."
The chancellor noted that "in this sort of situation it is important to use every opportunity to take care that the peaceful development is possible."
Amid increasing tension over Ukraine between Russia and Western countries of the NATO, the UN Secretary-General declared on Monday that "there is no alternative to diplomacy."
"I am deeply worried by the heightened tensions and increased speculation about a potential military conflict in Europe", Antonio Guterres told journalists, in a statement at UN Headquarters in New York.
The UN chief said that "the price in human suffering, destruction and damage to European and global security is too high to contemplate."
( With inputs from ANI )
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