Yohaan Tritz edited by Wassila Belhacine 07:24, February 20, 2022

Emmanuel Macron will speak this Sunday by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The French head of state has already spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, to try to avoid a major conflict "which would bring war to the heart of Europe" in his words. 

Heavy gunfire in eastern Ukraine and heightened tensions.

The question now arises: is it possible to avoid a long armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine?

The head of NATO considers that everything indicates that Russia is planning this attack, in total nearly 1,500 ceasefire violations have been recorded in the provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk.

For its part, Europe absolutely wants to favor the diplomatic route.

The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron has planned a new phone call to Vladimir Putin in the morning. 

“A situation of neither peace nor war”

The French president met on Saturday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Vlodymyr Zelensky.

A discussion which lasted 1h30 and which was a "last effort" in the words of Emmanuel Macron to avoid a major conflict, "which would bring war to the heart of Europe" he added.

The Ukrainian president made a commitment during this meeting not to respond to Russian provocations and remains open to dialogue.

He even said he was ready to meet Vladimir Putin to ease tensions.

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Growing tensions in Ukraine: is a diplomatic solution still possible?

The continuation of the conflict is difficult to predict according to Florent Parmentier, doctor in geopolitics: "We must not forget that in the middle of this week, we had from Vladimir Poutine, a speech which said in essence, that he had withdrawn part of its troops. We can also imagine that there will be this game for several days, several weeks, perhaps several months during which we are in a situation of neither peace nor war, we must also expect to surprises", analyzes the researcher at the microphone of Europe 1. 

Emmanuel Macron is determined to keep the peace.

He will take all the risks to avoid a conflict.

Even if the situation is difficult, "there is still room for diplomacy", he said.

The President of the Republic will also meet later at 10.30 a.m. with Vladimir Putin.

Nor does he rule out a new trip to Russia.