For the first time since the end of March, French President Emmanuel Macron has called Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine. The conversation on Tuesday lasted more than two hours, according to the French presidential office. Macron called on Putin to end “this destructive attack”. He once more called for a ceasefire and expressed his deep concern regarding the situation in Donbass and in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Putin informed Macron regarding evacuation
The Kremlin said Putin briefed Macron on the “liberation” of Mariupol by Russian forces and the successful evacuation of civilians from the besieged Azovstal steelworks. It was said from Paris that Macron had called on Russia to give the evacuees a free choice of destination in accordance with international law.
Reports of another storm
The Russian account was overshadowed by Ukrainian media reports that Russian soldiers are said to have started a new storm on Azovstal on Tuesday – although around 200 civilians are probably still stuck there. After more than 120 people were rescued from the factory premises last weekend, another evacuation attempt on Monday failed.
Regarding the phone call with Macron, the Kremlin also said that Putin had complained that European countries were ignoring the Ukrainian shelling of towns in the Donbass. The West might have avoided the deaths of civilians by stopping arms deliveries, it said. Moscow repeatedly accuses Kyiv of attacks once morest civilians – despite the fact that Russia itself attacked Ukraine on February 24. Since then, Russian troops have been accused of having committed serious war crimes in the Kiev suburb of Bucha and elsewhere.