Presidents of Russia and France Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Ukraine.

According to the press service of the Kremlin, the President of Russia informed about the progress of a special military operation to protect the republics of Donbass, including the liberation of Mariupol and the evacuation of civilians held by the nationalists at the Azovstal plant in accordance with the agreement reached at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and the Secretary General UN António Guterres April 26.

Attention is drawn to the ignoring by the EU member states of the war crimes of the Ukrainian security forces, massive shelling of cities and towns of Donbass, as a result of which civilians die. It was noted that the West could help stop these atrocities by having an appropriate impact on the Kyiv authorities, as well as stopping the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

The President of Russia outlined the fundamental approaches to negotiating with Ukrainian representatives, emphasizing that, despite Kyiv's inconsistency and unpreparedness for serious work, the Russian side is still open to dialogue.

The French side expressed concern about the emerging problem of ensuring global food security. In this context, Vladimir Putin stressed that the situation in this matter is complicated primarily due to the sanctions measures of Western countries, and noted the importance of the unimpeded functioning of the global logistics and transport infrastructure.

It was agreed to continue contacts at various levels.