Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to agree an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.
Scholz's office said the 75-minute call Saturday was part of ongoing international efforts to end the war in Ukraine. It said the leaders of Germany and France called on Putin to begin the process of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Further details of the call were not released. Separately, Scholz spoke earlier Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to get his assessment of the current situation.
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says his three-way call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin was very frank and also difficult. French officials said the Russian leader gave no indication during the call Saturday lasting more than an hour that he intends to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
European leaders are working on what they describe as a punishing new set of massive economic sanctions against Moscow in the hope of getting Putin to change his mind.
AP
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