French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke again on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, the day after the Versailles summit, the Elysee said.
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The call, which started around 12:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT) ended before 2:00 p.m., the French presidency said, adding that Mr. Macron had previously had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky online.
In a video released by the Ukrainian presidency, Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called on the French and German leaders to help free the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, kidnapped the day before by the Russians according to Kiev.
Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Poutine had already had a telephone conversation on Thursday during which France and Germany had “demanded an immediate ceasefire from Russia”.
Since their meeting on February 7 in the Kremlin, Emmanuel Macron has had nine telephone conversations, including that of last Thursday, with Vladimir Poutine, according to the count of the Élysée.
Gathered at a summit in Versailles, the Europeans further increased pressure on Russia on Friday to end its military offensive with threats of new “massive” sanctions against Moscow and a doubling of funding for arms to Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron has not ruled out that the EU could later attack gas or oil imports, which have so far been spared because of their cost for Europeans, who are very dependent on Russian hydrocarbons.