French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately halt military operations in Ukraine, Reuters reported on the 24th (local time).
According to reports, the French presidential office said that Macron had a phone call with Putin after consulting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in Ukraine and made the request.
"President Macron spoke first with the President of Ukraine and then called Putin on the phone to demand an immediate halt to Russia's military operations," the office said.
Macron is the first Western leader to speak to Putin on the phone after Russia's blitzkrieg invasion of Ukraine.
The call was made at the request of President Macron.
According to the AFP/DPA news agency, the Kremlin also issued a statement on the same day, explaining the detailed reasons for Russian President Putin's invasion to French President Macron, saying that "there was a serious and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine."
He added that the two leaders had agreed to maintain contact.
As the Ukraine crisis worsened this year, President Macron has claimed to be the culprit and has worked to mediate between the West and Russia.
He visited Moscow on the 7th to meet Russian President Putin in person, and until recently, he had several phone calls with Putin.
In particular, after talking on the phone with US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 20th, he said, "Both sides proposed to hold a US-Russian summit, and they both accepted it."
But when Russia finally invaded Ukraine on the 24th, French President Macron said he would "resolutely respond to acts of war".
At the European Union emergency summit held on the same day, he agreed with the heads of other member countries on additional sanctions targeting the finance, energy and transportation sectors and including export controls.
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