French President Emmanuel MacronBRUSSELS Feb 25French President Emmanuel Macron said that at the request of Vladimir Zelensky, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian and French presidents had a telephone conversation on Thursday evening at the initiative of the French side. «I had a quick, frank and direct exchange with President Putin at the request of President Zelensky. In order, firstly, to ask for an early cessation of hostilities, and, secondly, to offer to have a conversation with Zelensky, who asks for this, but he himself could not contact him,» the French leader said. He added that also » conveyed a message from France and a message» Zelensky to the President of Russia. «So far, this has not had an effect,» he added. Macron also confirmed his intention «to work towards a cessation of hostilities when possible.» As the Kremlin said earlier, Putin and Macron «seriously and frankly» exchanged views in connection with the events in Ukraine, Putin gave a comprehensive explanation of the situation. On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that the circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» According to the Russian leader, all responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine. He urged the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Ukrainian authorities, lay down their arms and go home. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the Russian Armed Forces do not launch any missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine: military infrastructure, air defense facilities are disabled by high-precision weapons , military airfields and aviation. The ministry assured that the civilian population is not in danger.
