Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed Sunday to intensify diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the two presidencies said.
"Given the gravity of the current situation, the presidents recognized that it is advisable to intensify the search for solutions by diplomatic means through the foreign policy departments and the political advisors of the leaders of the Normandy Format" (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France), the Kremlin says in a statement quoted by Lusa.
The French President held a one-hour and 45-minute telephone conversation with the Russian head of state this Sunday in an effort to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the end, the French Presidency announced that the two leaders agree to carry out "intensive work" leading to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
The two leaders, Elysium continued, agree that the Trilateral Contact Group should meet in the coming hours "with the aim of obtaining from all parties involved a commitment to a ceasefire" in the region, where clashes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists have intensified in recent days.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is expected to meet "in the coming days" with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and this diplomatic work involving Ukraine and other countries aims to achieve, "if conditions permit, a meeting at the highest level to define a new framework for peace and security in Europe," the French presidency adds.
The Kremlin, for its part, reported that Putin attributed the worsening fighting in eastern Ukraine to "Ukrainian provocations," but told his French counterpart he was open to stepping up diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
According to the Kremlin, during the same conversation, Putin asked that NATO and the United States "take seriously" Moscow's demands about its security, which are at the heart of the current crisis between Russia and the West.
The Russian head of state also warned about the supply of modern weaponry to Ukraine by NATO countries, which in his opinion may lead Kiev to solve the conflict in the Donbass through force.
After speaking with Putin, Macron spoke again with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for an immediate ceasefire in the Donbass region.
"We advocate intensification of the peace process. We support the immediate convening of the GCT [Trilateral Contact Group] and an immediate ceasefire," Zelensky wrote on his Twitter social network account.
The Ukrainian leader added that he has informed his French counterpart about the current situation in eastern Ukraine and the new attacks by separatist militias.
The West and Russia are currently experiencing a moment of strong tension, with the Moscow regime being accused of concentrating at least 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in apparent preparation for a potential invasion of the neighboring country.
Moscow denies any warlike intent and claims to have withdrawn part of the contingent from the area.
Meanwhile, clashes between Ukraine's army and pro-Russian separatists have increased in recent days in the east of the country, where the war between these two factions has been going on since 2014.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced on Saturday that they had recorded more than 1,500 ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine in 24 hours, a record number this year.
The leaders of the pro-Russian separatists in Lugansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday decreed a general mobilization to deal with this increase in violence.