Moscow has responded to news of a possible summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Putin

The Kremlin says that it would be “premature” to organise a summit between the two leaders, as tensions between Moscow and Kyiv continue to escalate.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has welcomed the French initiative for a summit between Biden and Putin, saying Kyiv hopes it will result in Moscow pulling back its troops.

France sees ‘diplomatic hope’ to resolve Ukraine crisis

The French Government has for some time hoped to be the mediator in the escalating tensions between Russia and its neighbour, hoping to provide a diplomatic way forward to cool the tensions.

US President Joe Biden has agreed “in principle” to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis over Ukraine

The White House says a summit proposed by France will take place only if Russia doesn’t move forward and invade its neighbour, Ukraine, as tensions continue to boil over.

The planned high-stakes talks could possibly offer a diplomatic way forward, to one of the worst security crises in Europe in decades.

Officials in the United States say that intelligence suggests that Russia is ready to launch a military operation against Kyiv – but Moscow continues to deny the allegations.

The proposal was announced by the French presidency after two phone calls between President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Putin, which went on for almost three hours in total.