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The leaders of Germany and France held a telephone name with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, through which they pressed the Russian President to conform to a direct ceasefire in Ukraine and withdraw Russia’s troops from the nation, German officers stated.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Putin for 80 minutes “on their initiative,” in line with the German authorities’s press workplace.
“The German chancellor and the French president urged a direct ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops. They referred to as on the Russian president to interact in severe direct negotiations with the Ukrainian president and to discover a diplomatic resolution to the battle,” the German authorities information launch stated.
An announcement from the French Presidential workplace, the Elysee Palace, stated: “Any resolution to the warfare have to be negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv.”
Within the name, Macron and Scholz additionally referred to as for the discharge of about 2,500 Azovstal defenders who’ve been taken as prisoners of warfare by Russian forces, the French readout stated, in a reference to Ukrainian forces who have been captured after defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol for weeks.
As well as, the 2 leaders urged Putin to elevate the blockade of Odesa to permit the export of Ukrainian grain by means of the Black Sea with the intention to keep away from a world meals disaster, in line with the assertion.
Some context: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have been frozen. He additionally accused Kyiv of constructing “contradictory” statements that Moscow didn’t perceive.
A day earlier, Peskov stated Moscow anticipated Kyiv to just accept the established order and meet its territorial calls for, following remarks by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that appeared to counsel Ukraine has to agree to surrender Crimea and far of the Donbas area to Russia.
In a Could 23 interview with Reuters, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dominated out agreeing to a ceasefire with Russia and stated Kyiv wouldn’t settle for any take care of Moscow that concerned ceding territory.
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