The presidents of France and Russia have spoken by telephone about the Ukraine crisis. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, quoting the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not provide details of the telephone conversation. However, the president’s office said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed analytical views with the French president. With Macro, he again expressed dissatisfaction that the United States and NATO were not paying attention to Moscow’s security concerns.
Earlier on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on resolving the Ukraine crisis. After the meeting, Macron claimed that he had been able to persuade Putin not to escalate the crisis in Ukraine. But Putin said otherwise. He said he had not promised any new military action in Ukraine’s border areas.
The United States, meanwhile, is removing all its troops from Ukraine. The Pentagon has said no.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States had ordered the temporary evacuation of 160 members of the Florida National Guard based in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has long rallied millions of troops along the Ukrainian border. In retaliation, NATO, a Western military alliance, has stepped up its military presence in Eastern Europe. All in all, war is raging in Europe. Russia has said in the past that it has no plans to intervene in Ukraine.