US President Joe Biden discussed the situation around Ukraine with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. On Sunday, February 20, the White House reports.
It is noted that the conversation lasted 15 minutes.
“President Biden spoke to President Macron. They discussed ongoing diplomatic work and deterrence efforts in the context of the buildup of Russian military presence on the border with Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the situation around Ukraine in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron.
It is noted that in the conversation, Johnson welcomed the statements that Russian President Vladimir Putin made in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Macron.
Also on that day, Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, discussed the situation around Ukraine. The leaders expressed their concern over the sharp deterioration of the situation on the line of contact in the Donbass.
Putin during the conversation pointed out that the reason for the escalation is the provocations of the Ukrainian security forces. The Russian president also stressed that the Ukrainian authorities are only imitating the negotiation process and stubbornly refusing to implement the Minsk agreements. Macron and Putin considered it expedient to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic means through the foreign ministries and political advisers to the leaders of the countries participating in the Normandy format.
Also on February 20, Macron held telephone conversations with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. During the conversation, the President of Ukraine spoke in favor of urgently convening a trilateral contact group on a settlement in Donbass.
Earlier that day, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened two criminal cases on the facts of wounding and death of civilians as a result of shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine (APU) in the Donbass. According to the investigation, on February 20, Ukrainian security forces carried out massive shelling with the use of heavy weapons and grenade launchers of several settlements of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR).
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov warned the participants in the conflict about irreparable consequences amid tensions in the Donbass. He stressed that all the existing statements of the West about the mythical desire of Russia to invade the territory of Ukraine only exacerbate the situation. The Kremlin spokesman also pointed to the unwillingness of the Kiev authorities to implement the Minsk agreements.
In recent days, the situation on the line of resistance in the Donbass has escalated significantly. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including with heavy weapons. A general mobilization and evacuation of the civilian population in the Russian Federation has been announced. The Russian side continues to emphasize that the de-escalation in Donbas does not depend on its actions.