During the call, which lasted about seventy minutes, the French presidency called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Ukraine.
Macron expressed his “deep concern” over the situation in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, and called for the “removal of the siege and humanitarian access,” according to the same source.
For its part, the Kremlin said in a statement that Putin had “drawn attention to the numerous war crimes committed daily by Ukrainian security forces and nationalists.”
The United States has accused Russia of war crimes over more than three years of occupation of Ukraine, following US President Joe Biden’s calling Putin a “war criminal” on Thursday.
In today’s conversation with Macron, Putin called for “massive rocket and artillery attacks on Donbass cities,” partly controlled by pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian president further assured that “the Russian armed forces are doing everything possible to protect the lives of civilians, especially by creating humanitarian corridors for their safe evacuation”, the controversial version of Kiev and Western countries, Russian forces have created it. It is difficult to help besieged cities and their attacks are aimed at civilian targets.
According to the Kremlin, the two leaders also discussed ongoing talks between Moscow and Kiev.
On February 24, Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine that killed at least 816 civilians and injured 1,333 civilians, including more than 130 children, and sent about 5.2 million people to neighboring countries. According to the latest UN data.
According to the United Nations, about 13 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance.