Macron expresses deep concern to Putin over Russian bombing in Ukraine

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) – French President Emmanuel Macron expressed deep concern about Mariupol and Donbass as he resumed talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a phone call on Tuesday after a gap in the communication for more than a month.

Macron’s concerns follow after Russian forces intensified attacks against civilians in Mariupol’s steel plant and in Donbass in the east of Ukraine.

He called on Russia to allow safe evacuations of the Azovstal plant in accordance with international humanitarian law, a statement from the Elysee Palace said.

Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of using all kinds of weapons even as hundreds of civilians and small children who had taken shelter underneath the plant were trapped inside.

Macron also told Putin he was willing to work with “international organizations to help lift the Russian blockade of Ukrainian food exports through the Black Sea in view of its consequences on world food security.”

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Moscow is blocking Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea and deliberately targeting grain silos, warehouses and infrastructure, causing loss of tens of millions of tons and triggering a food crisis in Europe, Asia and Africa.

He also renewed his demand for a cease-fire and appealed to Moscow to put an end to the war by assuming responsibilities of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the statement said.

Putin told Macron that the West must stop supplying arms to Ukraine and that the European Union continued to ignore the crimes committed by the Ukrainian forces. He asserted that despite Kyiv’s “inconsistency and lack of preparation for serious work,” Russia was still open to dialogue.

The call conducted this afternoon, which lasted for over two hours, is the first since Macron was re-elected president last Sunday. The two sides last interacted on March 29 after reports of mass atrocities against civilians in Ukraine’s Bucha city emerged. Earlier, Macron described his calls with Putin as unpleasant but necessary in view of brokering peace.