Macron and Putin agree on an urgent effort to restore the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine

Johnson has stressed that this agreement is a “good sign” for a diplomatic solution

MADRID, 20 (EUROPE PRESS)

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed this Sunday on an emergency effort to reimpose the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and put an end to the serious upsurge in fighting between the Ukrainian Army and the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which adds to the current tension in the area due to the accumulation of Russian troops on the border.

Both leaders have called a special meeting “in a matter of hours” of the Trilateral Contact Group — made up of Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) –, according to a statement from the Elysee after the telephone call between the two leaders, this Sunday.

Subsequently, Elysée sources have informed the Bloomberg agency that this meeting could probably take place tomorrow, Monday, just when another extraordinary meeting of the OSCE permanent council is also scheduled to be held.

In the note, the Elysee points out that both Putin and Macron have agreed on “the need to favor a diplomatic solution to the current crisis and do everything possible to achieve it” on the basis of the so-called Normandy Quartet format made up of France, Ukraine , Russia and Germany.

In addition, intense diplomatic work will begin in the coming days “to hold, if the conditions are right, a meeting at the highest level with a view to defining a new order of peace and security in Europe”, adds the French Presidency before announce a new meeting in the coming days between the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

“Taking into account the seriousness of the situation, the presidents considered it convenient to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic channels through the foreign ministries and the political advisers of the leaders of the countries participating in the Normandy format,” he adds. Elysée statement.

“Contacts”, the note stresses, “designed to help restore the ceasefire and guarantee progress in resolving the conflict around the Ukrainian region of Donbas”, the focus of hostilities.

After the call to Putin, Macron then spoke with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, who confirmed once again, as he did on Saturday, “his determination not to react to provocations and respect the ceasefire” in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine. Macron, in response, applauded “the composure of his interlocutor and his determination to avoid an escalation” in the area.

Later, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has valued the compromise reached by Putin and Macron. “The Prime Minister has stressed that President Putin’s commitments to President Macron are a good sign that he may want to compromise to achieve a diplomatic solution,” the British government said in a statement.

Johnson has warned in any case that “Ukraine’s voice must be at the center of any negotiation.” The British leader had a telephone conversation with Macron on Sunday night in which both agreed on the need for both Russia and Ukraine to comply with the Minsk Agreements in their entirety.

The Elysee has also reported the call with Johnson and explained that “the two leaders fully agree to carry out in the coming days all the actions that allow the path of diplomacy to remain open and prevail.”

Macron has also spoken with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, in a conversation that lasted 15 minutes, according to the White House, and with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL

This afternoon it was also announced that, at the request of Ukraine, the Polish government has called an extraordinary meeting of the OSCE permanent council for this coming Monday, as announced by the permanent representative of Warsaw to the organization, Adam Halacinski, in your Twitter account.

The request of the Ukrainian ambassador to the OSCE, Yevgeni Tsimabliuk, will have the special participation of the group’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group and head of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine, the Finn Mikko Kinnunen.

“I would like to assure the organization,” says the Ukrainian ambassador, “that Ukraine remains firmly committed to a political-diplomatic solution to the crisis.”

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