France's Macron calls for EU plan to ease Russia tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron says the European Union should quickly draw up a new security plan containing proposals to help ease tensions with Russia

STRASBOURG, France -- French President Emmanuel Macron called Wednesday on the European Union to quickly draw up a new security plan containing proposals to help ease tensions with Russia, as concern mounts that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning an invasion of Ukraine.

The EU must in coming weeks “complete a European proposal building a new security and stability order," Macron said. "We should build it among Europeans, then share it with our allies in the framework of NATO, and then propose it for negotiation to Russia.”

Macron’s remarks to EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, came the day after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military organization was in the process of finalizing its own security proposals. Stoltenberg hopes to set up a series of meetings with Russia in the near future.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv on Wednesday and plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.