MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have held a telephone conversation, emphasizing the importance of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission to Syria, the Kremlin press service said in a statement following the April 23 telephone call.

"There has been a discussion of the situation in Syria in the wake of the US-led air strikes," the statement reads. "Russia stressed that this action was a blatant violation of international law, which created new difficulties in the process of political settlement in Syria. In this regard, it was noted that the OPCW mission to Syria was particularly important," the Kremlin press service added.