After their meeting in person on February 7 in Moscow, this conversation began as part of “the last possible and necessary effort to avoid a major conflict in Ukraine,” the French Presidency said.
The call between the two leaders comes as hostilities increase in eastern Ukraine – where pro-Russian separatists have controlled part of Donbas since 2014.
The insurgents accused Kiev of wanting to attack them and announced a “general mobilization” of all men in a state of combat.
They also ordered an evacuation of civilians to neighboring regions of Russia, a possible prelude to a conflict.
In the night from Saturday to Sunday, Russian agencies reported artillery fire on the outskirts of Donetsknear the front line. And the OSCE observers, in charge of ensuring the ceasefire in the area, warned of an increase in violations of that agreement that sought to end the conflict, which has left 14,000 dead since 2014
While, Belarus announced that the joint military exercises with Russia that are being carried out on its territory, and that were to end on Sunday, will continue due to the growing tensions.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky urged United States Yet the NATO to abandon Russia’s “appeasement” policy and increase its military aid to Kiev. But at the same time he asked not to “panic” during the security conference in Munich.
On Saturday, Macron spoke with Zelensky, who assured that he “would not respond to provocations” by Russia on the front line with the Donbas separatists, according to the presidency of France, which also holds the temporary presidency of the European Union (EU). He also asked Macron to express to Putin “Ukraine’s readiness for dialogue.”
“Russian military action against Ukraine would take the war to the heart of Europe”insisted an adviser to the French presidency, warning of a risk of conflict “in Ukraine and its surroundings.”
Meanwhile, the president of the European CouncilBelgian Charles Michel said on Sunday that Western countries cannot “offer an olive branch indefinitely while Russia conducts missile tests and continues to build up troops” on the Ukrainian border.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated for his part that Russia prepares what could be “the biggest war in Europe since 1945” and that the invasion would not only attack Ukraine from the east, but also from the north, from Belarus to “surround Kiev,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
“All signs indicate that Russia is planning an all-out attack on Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday.
Ukraine and the United States accuse Russia of gambling more than 150,000 soldiers on the border to launch an attack, and Washington routinely reiterates that the invasion could come “at any time”.
Your president Joe Biden will participate in a rare Ukraine-focused National Security Council meeting on Sunday, days before a meeting between his secretary of state Anthony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov scheduled for Thursday, provided that a war does not break out beforehand.
The Kremlin denies harboring bellicose intentions towards Kiev, but demands NATO guarantees for its security, such as the withdrawal of its military infrastructure from Eastern Europe and a veto on Ukraine’s entry into the transatlantic alliance.
Source: Ambito
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