"We must find a solution to avoid war". Duda, Scholz and Macron met in Berlin

Olaf Scholz said preventing war was the main objective of the so-called Weimar Triangle - a 30-year-old format comprising representatives from Germany, France and Poland.

"The amassing of Russian troops on the Ukraine border is of great concern and our appraisal of the situation is united, as is our position on this: any further attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is unacceptable and will draw wide-reaching consequences onto Russia: politically, economically and geo-strategically," German chancellor said.

President Andrzej Duda thanked Scholz for invitation to Berlin and stressed the importance of sharing mutual experience.

"In my opinion, this is the most difficult situation NATO and the European Union have faced since 1989, or at least the most difficult in which Central Europe and Europe in general have found themselves since then, since the beginning of the 1990s" president Duda added.

"We have to find a solution, and we need to find such a solution that makes sure war is avoided. This is our most important objective at the moment. I believe we can achieve this, and I think the most important thing at the moment is that we work in unity and solidarity," he argued.

"We have to show that we speak with one voice, that we are in this together and that we cannot be broken. And I think we must also show that we will not back down," Poland's president said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the main objective of his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda in Berlin was "avoiding war" in Ukraine and Europe.

"We will continue to act in the coming weeks with simple objectives. The first one, it has been said: avoiding war. The peace and stability of the European continent are treasured by us and we believe our duty is to do whatever is in our power to preserve it," Macron said.

"The second thing is consolidating and defending the unity of Europeans and allies at all times. This is how we have prepared our deadlines and that is how we are walking this path," he added.

Macron, who in contrast to the U.S. and British leaders, has played down the likelihood that Russia may soon invade its neighbour, shuttled from Moscow to Kyiv on Tuesday in a high-profile bid to act as a mediator before flying to Berlin.

The French president had no breakthroughs to announce. His office rowed back on Tuesday after an official said overnight that Putin had promised him Russia would not stage military manoeuvres near Ukraine for the time being.