According to the Elysée Palace in Paris, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have “in principle” approved a summit meeting on the Ukraine conflict proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The meeting “can only take place if Russia does not invade Ukraine,” the Elysée Palace said on Monday night after Macron had previously telephoned the two heads of state.

According to France, the meeting between Biden and Putin is to be prepared by the respective foreign ministers, Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov, at their meeting this week.

Lavrov is scheduled to meet his French colleague Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday.

Kremlin: No plans for meetings

Shortly after the announcement from the Elysee, Biden's press secretary, Jen Psaki, said the US was "obligated to continue diplomacy pending the onset of an invasion."

Biden has "agreed in principle to meet with President Putin...if there is no invasion."

The Kremlin said Monday there were no plans for Putin to meet Biden.

Such a thing is possible "if the heads of state consider it expedient," said Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

At the moment, however, only a "continuation of the dialogue at ministerial level" is planned.

Contacts between the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and France are possible this week.  

Putin called the National Security Council to a special session.

Peskow did not want to name a topic.

He described the situation in Donbass as "extremely tense".

"So far we haven't seen any signs of relaxation." International observers had recently spoken of a massive increase in violations of an existing ceasefire.

Macron spoke to Putin twice on Sunday.

According to the Kremlin, during the first phone call, Macron and Putin agreed to "facilitate the restoration of the ceasefire and ensure progress in resolving the conflict."

In the conversation, however, Putin also denounced “provocations” by the Ukrainian army.

Macron then spoke to Biden before calling Putin again in the evening.

Military maneuvers in Belarus

The announcement from Moscow that it would withdraw its estimated 30,000 soldiers from neighboring Belarus was seen as a possible sign of relaxation.

However, the Belarusian Defense Ministry has now said that President Alexandr Lukashenko and Putin have decided to continue their joint military maneuvers in view of the "escalation" of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

This representation "does not correspond to the statements made by President Putin," said the Elysée Palace after Macron's first phone call with the Kremlin boss.

The latter announced his intention to withdraw his troops from Belarus after the ongoing military exercises had been completed.

The situation in eastern Ukraine continues to deteriorate

Meanwhile, violence continued to escalate in eastern Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian sources, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed by shell fire on Saturday.

AFP journalists heard more explosions on the front lines between separatists and government forces on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a resumption of ceasefire negotiations led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

At the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyi offered Putin a meeting.

However, he also opposed an "appeasement policy" to appease the Russian side and again called for a clear perspective for Ukraine to join NATO.

On Sunday evening, the French President also spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the phone.

According to a spokesman for Johnson's office, the two "agreed that the coming week will be crucial for diplomacy."

Johnson welcomed Macron's commitment to seek a diplomatic solution, but stressed that "Ukraine's voice must remain central in all talks."