The situation in Russia and Ukraine continues to be tense, and the leaders of Europe and the United States have made frequent moves.
U.S. President Joe Biden held a major conference call with European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Scholts, which also included British Prime Minister Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Polish President Andrey Duda, European Council President Charles Michel and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Bloomberg reported.
Biden told reporters at the White House:
"I had a very, very, very good meeting. Fully aligned with all European leaders. ”
British Prime Minister Johnson's office said the focus of the meeting was "to take all necessary measures within our capabilities to prevent conflict from occurring".
A spokesman for Germany's Scholts said the leaders "agreed that it was up to Russia to take tangible steps to de-escalate tensions," while agreeing to continue diplomatic efforts.
Meanwhile, NATO said it would strengthen its deployment in Eastern Europe, and the Pentagon announced it had put 8,500 troops on high alert.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the USS Truman carrier battle group was beginning a "major military exercise" called Neptune Strike 22, which will last until Feb. 4. This is the first time since the Cold War that the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group has come under NATO command. The Pentagon confirmed the exercise last week, saying it had been planned about two years ago.
Against that backdrop, European stocks fell their biggest drop since June 2020 on Monday, with fears of an escalation in Ukraine. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 3.8 percent to its lowest level since early October.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:
"As hopes for new meaningful moves by diplomats begin to fade, the threat of conflict is looming over European stock indexes."
European gas prices rose 7 percent at the start of trading on Monday. If tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate further, uncertainty about the impact on Gas supplies in Europe could briefly push oil prices higher
Goldman Sachs said in a note that sanctions on the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline would "ultimately reduce the flow of natural gas to Europe indefinitely."
European and American action frequency
In response to possible conflicts, European countries and the United States began to take action.
Macron intends to meet with Putin in the coming days to urge de-escalation of tensions along the border with Ukraine, according to an aide to the French government, but a specific date has not yet been set. The person said France wants Russia to reduce its armaments or to openly understand Russia's intentions.
Earlier, the U.S. State Department ordered the evacuation of the families of embassy personnel in Ukraine and the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
In addition to the United States, britain's foreign office tweeted on Monday that some staff and family members had been withdrawn from the Kiev embassy.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Monday that the EU has no plans to ask the families of Ukrainian diplomats to leave.
According to Bloomberg, the German government has adamantly refused to supply weapons to Ukraine, saying its position is inconsistent with its main allies and opposing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as a possible sanctions tool.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reiterated that Nord Stream 2 should not proceed if the Russian-Ukrainian conflict breaks out.
In addition, Romania, Denmark and other countries have also voiced their urging of sanctions against Russia, and Denmark has sent frigates to the Baltic Sea and deployed fighter jets to Lithuania.
Russia and Ukraine call it "overreacting"
Russia and Ukraine, the "center of the storm," are slightly quieter.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call on Monday that Russia had observed Ukrainian troops massing on the front lines and considered the risk of an offensive in Kiev "very high." He declined to give details.
Peskov blamed U.S. and NATO actions, particularly the withdrawal of U.S. diplomats' families from Kiev, for exacerbating the situation.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko also said Monday that the U.S. decision to take diplomats' families away from Kiev was "premature" because "there has been no significant change in the security situation recently" and that the build-up of Russian troops near ukraine's border began in April.
Earlier, Ukraine's leading officials called on all parties to remain calm after a high-level meeting of the National Security and Defense Council in Kiev. Committee Chairman Oleksiy Danilov said after the meeting that even if Russia deployed about 109,000 troops near its border, plus about 10,000 logisticians, there was no reason to panic and the foreign response was exaggerated.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal added that Ukraine has enough coal reserves and there will be no problem in repaying its foreign debt:
"The key message is not to panic."
This article is from Wall Street Insights, welcome to download the APP to see more