Ukraine crisis talks: 'Diplomatic actions alone will not do the trick'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins talks with European allies in Berlin on Thursday in a diplomatic push to defuse tensions with Moscow over Ukraine. Gustav Gressel, Senior Policy Fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations' (ECFR) Berlin office, joins France 24 and does not see any indication that Russia is very serious about talks. "Russia has set up maximalist demands and has again signaled that it's not interested in any talks that fall short of maximalist demands." Mr. Gressel is also quite skeptical that Europe's position will hold much weight at this late stage, aside from supporting economic sanctions. "It would have been better if the Europeans would have supported Ukraine, especially in the security sector, more over the past years. Now, of course, it's very difficult to make good on that."