France urges Russia to join new 'security order' in Europe

French Foreign Minister backs overhaul of Europe's security approach

Russian tanks return from a shooting range in the Voronezh region. Russia said some of its forces near the Ukraine border would be returning to their bases after completing exercises. EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow to discuss the Ukraine crisis. Reuters

Russian tanks make their way through snow back to their bases. EPA

Russian armoured vehicles are loaded on to railway platforms after the end of military drills in southern Russia. AP

Chancellor Scholz attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. EPA

“The units of the southern and western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading on to rail and road transport,” Russia's Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. AP

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrives at 10 Downing Street to attend a meeting of the UK's Cobra emergency committee. AFP

Russian military vehicles are loaded on to railway freight carriages in Crimea. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier fires an anti-tank weapon during an exercise in eastern Ukraine. AP

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France has backed an overhaul of Europe’s security structure and urged Russia to join a new “security and stability order” for the continent amid heightened tensions over Ukraine.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said there were “no more rules” overseeing European security, and described deals supposed to limit the flow of arms as “nearly obsolete or irrelevant”.

There are fears in many Western capitals that Russia is set to invade Ukraine after massing more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with its neighbour. Moscow has rejected such claims, but diplomatic efforts between Russia, the EU and Nato have only made limited headway so far.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Le Drian said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “can choose to make Russia a destabilising power … which could mean a permanent strategy of tension over the long term, or he can choose to become the actor, the partner, in a new security and stability order in Europe. It’s his choice. It is indeed him who has to decide.”

Russia and Nato have repeatedly accused the other of playing a destabilising role in the region and elsewhere. Moscow has made a series of security demands, including a guarantee that Ukraine will never be given Nato membership. “While there is a demand from Russia for stability, for guarantees, there is also a demand for stability and for guarantees from our side,” Mr Le Drian said. “Europe needs guarantees of security and stability. We’re ready to talk about it, about everything.”

Although Nato has rejected many of Russia’s demands, Mr Le Drian said the West sought a better understanding with Moscow on problems including arms control.

Claims by Russia that it has withdrawn some of its troops from the frontier with Ukraine have been met with scepticism in many European and North American capitals.

“If those signs are verified, it’s a small beginning. But we’ll need to see how the manoeuvres in Belarus end, for example, how the manoeuvres in the Black Sea and near the Ukrainian borders end. All of that is part of de-escalation,” Mr Le Drian said, adding that he remained vigilant.