Putin says ready for compromise after talks with Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for compromise and would look at proposals put forward by French leader Emmanuel Macron during talks on Monday, while still blaming the West for raising tensions over Ukraine, Reuters reports. 

Emerging from a meeting in the Kremlin that lasted more than five hours, the two leaders voiced hope that a solution could be found to the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

Moscow has amassed tens of thousands of troops on the borders of Ukraine, raising fears that it is preparing a possible invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

The West has repeatedly warned of "severe consequences" if Russia invades, and Macron was the first major Western leader to meet with Putin since the start of the crisis in December.

Repeatedly thanking the French leader for coming to Moscow, Putin said at a joint press conference that Macron had presented several ideas worth studying.

"A number of his ideas, proposals... are possible as a basis for further steps," Putin said, adding: "We will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone."

He did not provide any details but said the two leaders would speak by phone after Macron meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Macron said he made concrete proposals to address the concerns of both Russia and the West.

"President Putin assured me of his readiness to engage," Macron said, adding: "There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia."

The French presidency said the proposals include an undertaking from both sides not to take any new military action, the launching of a new strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process in Kyiv's conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the country's east.

Putin again denied that Russia was to blame for the tensions.

"Saying that Russia is acting aggressively is illogical," Putin said.

"It is not us who are moving towards NATO's borders," he said, in reference to alliance deployments in eastern Europe.

 The meeting in Moscow came at the start of a week of intense diplomacy over the Ukraine crisis, with US President Joe Biden also hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Monday.