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Putin plans to hold another telephone conversation with Macron

Macron reportedly intends to discuss aggravation of the situation around Ukraine with the Russian President

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his fifth telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron since the beginning of this year. The leaders also met in person on February 7 in the Kremlin.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously confirmed to TASS that the conversation is scheduled for February 20.

Macron reportedly intends to discuss aggravation of the situation around Ukraine with the Russian President. The administration of the French leader also stressed that every opportunity must be used to avoid confrontation, which would destabilize the security situation on the European continent in general.

In turn, Putin commented on the situation in the Donbass expressing regret over the aggravation and once again called on Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table and agree on measures to end the conflict.

The situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse on the morning of February 17. The Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics reported some of the most intensive shelling by Kiev forces in recent months. The shelling damaged some civilian facilities.

On Friday, the leaders of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced the evacuation of the republics’ inhabitants to Russia, citing the increasing threat of hostilities. All-out mobilization was announced in the republics on Saturday.

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Vladimir Putin Emmanuel Macron

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