Macron, Putin Call Each Other To ‘Avoid The Worst’ In Ukraine – The HuffPost

POOL News via Reuters

POLITICS – The Kremlin has confirmed that the Russian President Vladimir Poutine was going to talk on Sunday February 20 on the phone with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macronwhereas fears of a Russian attack in Ukraine are at their height.

The call is “on the president’s agenda” for Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Friday evening, the Elysée announced this call intended to “avoid the worst” in Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron must also meet with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky this Saturday.

The situation has deteriorated significantly in recent hours, with the Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists accusing each other of serious ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine, where the latest attacks have left the minus one death.

“No withdrawal of Russian forces”

We must “try everything, do everything so that the worst does not happen”, had hammered the French presidency, evoking a “risk of a Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory under the control of the government” of Kiev, and not only of the pro-Russian separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.

“We believe that we still have the possibility of dissuading President Putin from carrying out the attack on Ukraine”, noted an adviser to Emmanuel Macron after a telephone exchange between the heads of state and of government of the main Western countries on Friday.

The exchange brought together American Joe Biden, Canadian Justin Trudeau, Ursula von der Leyen (President of the EU Commission), Charles Michel (President of the Council of the EU), Italian Mario Draghi, Jens Stoltenberg (NATO chief), German Olaf Scholz, Polish Andrzej Duda, Romanian Klaus Johannis, Briton Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron.

Westerners do not observe “no withdrawal of Russian forces” stationed at the gates of Ukraine, contrary to announcements made several days ago by Russia, the French presidency insisted.