Putin to schedule call with Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to find common ground on Ukraine. File Pic/AFP

Kremlin has confirmed a scheduled phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, today amid the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, media reports said. "Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to have a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday," Sputnik News Agency reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Tensions have built up in Eastern Ukraine since Russia's build-up of around 1,50,000 troops just over the border from the Donbas region in the east, in Belarus to the north and Crimea to the south. Russia claims the surge of forces, which is the biggest build-up of military might in Europe since the Cold War, has always been for military exercises and that it poses no threat to Ukraine or any other nation.

On January 25, the French President expressed concern about the situation near the borders of Ukraine and voiced the need to work for quick de-escalation. Meanwhile, tensions increased on Saturday with the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region signing a decree on general mobilisation. The Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik that Rostov Region has opened 15 border crossings for refugees from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, which includes the Donetsk region. Defence officials in Moscow have said that troops and military hardware are pulling back. Western intelligence officials say, on the contrary, maintain that Russia has moved roughly 7,000 more troops close to the borders in recent days.

150K
Number of Russian troops near the border

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