French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin spoke by phone, the conversation lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. It is reported on Saturday, February 12, AFP with reference to the Elysee Palace.
French President Emmanuel Macron held talks on Saturday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for an hour and 40 minutes to try to ease rising tensions in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the conversation took place.
Also on February 12, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and a conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
On February 7, a meeting between Putin and Macron took place in Moscow. The leaders talked for more than five hours. As a result of the talks, the French president pointed out the need for a dialogue with the Russian Federation in order to build a European security model.
Putin stressed that Kiev needs to fulfill the Minsk agreements. This would contribute to a settlement in the Donbass.
On February 8, the French President reaffirmed Kiev’s desire to comply with the Minsk agreements.
At the same time, on February 11, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Yevgeny Muraev said that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky did not give public guarantees to Macron that the country would not start hostilities in the Donbass, thereby “framing” his French counterpart. Muraev clarified that the President of Ukraine did not clarify his position on this issue in the public field before the French leader.
In the United States and EU countries, they have recently expressed concern about the alleged increase in Russia’s “aggressive actions” against Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone. As the Russian side emphasized, such accusations are used as a pretext to deploy as much NATO military equipment as possible near the borders of the Russian Federation.
On January 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was not going to start a war with Ukraine, and Western countries and the United States were “hysterically” developing the topic of a threat to Ukraine from the Russian Federation instead of forcing Ukraine to comply with the Minsk agreements.
At the same time, since 2014, the Kiev authorities have been carrying out a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
