French President Emmanuel Macron held separate telephone conversations with Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, February 3, in an attempt to make progress on the status of Donbas, the Elysee Palace press office reported.
The report, quoted by Reuters, said that in conversations with Putin and Zelensky, Macron stressed the importance of discussing the conditions for achieving a strategic balance in Europe that would ease tensions on the ground and guarantee security on the continent. The French leader also noted the need to "accelerate" the peace process in Donbas, where Moscow has supported pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
The Kremlin press service, following Putin and Macron's phone conversation, reported that the sides continued dialogue on the situation around Ukraine and issues related to Moscow's proposals on "long-term legal security guarantees." Putin also pointed out to his French counterpart "provocative statements and actions of the Kiev leadership" that contradict the Minsk agreements. The Russian and French presidents spoke by phone for the third time this week, the conversation took place at the initiative of the French side.
Zelensky and Macron during the conversation discussed countering security challenges and the activation of the peace process within the framework of the "Normandy format," the Ukrainian leader wrote on Twitter. According to him, they agreed on "further joint steps to maintain Ukraine's stability and strengthen financial and economic cooperation".
