Emmanuel Macron will visit Russia on Monday and Ukraine on Tuesday, the Presidency of the French Republic said on Friday, February 4, as diplomatic steps are increasing in an attempt to reduce tensions around Ukraine.
The Élysée specifies that the Head of State will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski the next day in Kiev.
Thursday, Emmanuel Macron spoke remotely with Vladimir Poutine, then Volodimir Zelenski, to discuss the tensions in the Donbass, the region of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, and more generally security in Europe.
This was the third meeting in a week between the French president and his Russian counterpart.
Ukraine says Moscow has massed some 115,000 troops near its borders and fears armed conflict on its soil, while Russia accuses the United States of inflaming an already tense situation by sending nearly 3,000 more troops to Europe from the east.
With Reuters
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