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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA Web Desk |Updated: Feb 21, 2022, 07:13 AM IST
Amid escalation of tension between Ukraine and Russia, there is news of some relief. According to reports, Russia has agreed to ceasefire in eastern Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday to discuss on ending the ongoing standoff between the two countries.
The news was shared by President Macron's office after the conversation.
In a statement issued by the Elysee Palace, the residence of the French President, it was said that the two leaders had a phone conversation for 105 minutes. They agreed on the need to support a diplomatic solution to the current crisis. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will meet in the coming days.
Macron's office said Putin told his French counterpart that he would withdraw Russian troops from Belarus as soon as the ongoing military exercises there ended. Putin and Macron said they would meet in the next few hours with the Tripartite Contact Group, which includes Ukraine, Russia and OSCE to contact all interested parties and work closely for the ceasefire objective.
Macron and Putin also agreed that talks between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany should resume to implement the so-called Minsk Protocol, which had already called for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine in 2014. At the same time, the two leaders have also agreed to work towards a high-level meeting aimed at defining a new peace and security system in Europe.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has also expressed his desire to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin so that the war against Ukraine can be stopped.
