Erdogan in Ukraine as Europe pushes to defuse Russia tensions

KYIV: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in Kyiv Thursday in an effort to mediate the crisis with Russia, as EU leaders stepped up outreach to the Kremlin to defuse fears Moscow could invade Ukraine.

The diplomatic offensive came as Russia accused the United States of ratcheting up “tensions” by sending 1,000 soldiers to Romania and 2,000 to Poland to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.

As Moscow refuses to pull back over 100,000 troops from Ukraine’s borders, the leaders of European powerhouses Germany and France said they were eyeing possible visits to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron was set to hold his third phone call in a week with Putin later on Thursday and also talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Western powers have been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts — coupled with the threat of sanctions against Putin’s inner circle — to deter any further attack on ex-Soviet Ukraine, despite strenuous denials from Moscow.

Erdogan is looking to pursue his own diplomatic track when he meets Zelensky, by leveraging his special relations with Putin and strong support for Kyiv to set up a three-way summit.

But his attempts to host peace talks between Putin and Zelensky have been stymied by Kremlin anger over NATO member Turkey’s supply of combat drones to Kyiv.

Amid the diplomatic flurry, Washington angered Moscow by announcing the new troop deployments to two of NATO’s eastern members.

“As long as (President Vladimir Putin) is acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in eastern Europe that we’re there,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

The Kremlin urged the US to “stop escalating tensions” after Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned the “destructive” move would make it harder for a compromise between the two sides.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed the US troop movements were to demonstrate commitment to the NATO alliance, and that no US soldiers would be sent to fight in Ukraine.