Putin, Macron discuss EU-Belarus migrant crisis, Ukraine over phone

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron Tuesday, where the leaders discussed the EU-Belarus migrant crisis and the situation in Ukraine among other issues.

While discussing the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU, Putin spoke in favor of direct dialogue between representatives from EU member states and Minsk, the Kremlin said.

"The fact that Poland and the Baltic States are violating their international obligations to protect the rights of refugees and that the migration crisis needs to be overcome in accordance with humanitarian law was noted," it said.

Putin and Macron further exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, where the Russian leader "provided specific examples of violations by Kiev of the Minsk agreements, which is the only viable path towards overcoming the internal Ukraine crisis."

"It was also noted that the Ukrainian authorities are purposefully aggravating the situation on the line of contact, and are doing so with the complicity of a number of Western countries," the Kremlin said, adding that Ukraine was being supplied with modern weapons, which posed a direct threat to Russia's security.

Putin underlined the importance of international negotiations aimed at developing legally stated guarantees to forestall NATO's further eastward expansion and the deployment of weapons that threaten Russia in neighbouring states, primarily, Ukraine.

The leaders also covered cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.