Key Takeaways:

• As American troops landed in Poland, French President Emmanuel Macron went to the Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• Macron was on a potentially futile peacekeeping mission, but he sat at the far ends of a long white table, trying to deduce Putin's intentions.

French President Emmanuel Macron went up to the Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, as American troops landed in Poland.

After a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin, he walked through the snow in Moscow's Red Square the night before.

The Americans were dispatched to Poland by a US president to shore up Europe's eastern flank and bolster a united front against Russia.

Macron was on a potentially futile peacekeeping mission, but he sat at opposite ends of a long white table, attempting to guess Putin's intentions.

Will he invade Ukraine, or will he not?

There was no breakthrough, and no one expected one, but Macron exuded the aura of a man with a seductive intellect. A glimmer of hope.

"We spoke with President Putin, and he said he wouldn't start an escalation." "I believe that is critical," Macron stated.

Important, but was it correct that Russia was backing down and de-escalating after months of massing 130,000 troops to essentially encircle Ukraine?

Around the same time that Macron was talking, the Russian defense ministry announced that the Russian navy had deployed six large landing craft to the Black Sea.

This can only mean one thing to the Americans and Europeans: the possibility of a major amphibious assault on Ukraine's coast.

The threat of a full-fledged Russian invasion appeared to be nearing its end.

Denial came from the Kremlin. According to a spokesperson, there is no deal to de-escalate or back off, leaving Macron perplexed and possibly ridiculed if he succumbed to Putin's deception.

"This is fundamentally wrong," said the Kremlin's voice. "Both Moscow and Paris were unable to reach an agreement. It's just not possible."

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is well aware of the antics of his near-namesake in Moscow. He is understandably wary and distrustful, given that his country's eastern border has been under siege by pro-Russian militants for years.

"Ukraine is patient because it is wise," he explained. "I believe it is critical not only for Ukraine but also for Europe and Russians."

When your nation is threatened with overthrow as well as occupation by an invading army, wisdom can be fleeting. And you can't be certain that your presumed allies will defend you.

"I don't trust words in general," Zelensky said as he stood alongside Macron. He believes that a politician's sincerity is determined by his or her actions. "De-escalation is true sincerity in our case."

While all of this was going on, Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, donned a helmet and body armor and toured Ukraine's eastern frontline.

She witnessed shelling destroy homes, doors strewn with bullet holes, and children's toys abandoned as families fled the constant bombardment. It's now where Ukrainian troops wait in trenches for an overwhelming Russian army to arrive.

"I'm here to get a sense of what it means to have a war in the middle of Europe," she explained.