Ukraine crisis: Macron and Putin to speak in 'last effort to avoid major conflict'
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday morning, in what is seen as a last-minute diplomatic effort to try to avoid a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It comes as tensions have reached their highest point in some years in eastern Ukraine, amid a spike of violence over the weekend that has reinforced fears in the West that Russia may seek a pretext to invade its neighbour.
Macron's phone call with Putin, due to take place at 11.00 CET, is described by the Elysée as among "the last possible and necessary efforts to avoid a major conflict in Ukraine". It follows a meeting between the two leaders in Moscow on February 7.
The latest diplomatic move comes the day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an end to all "politics of appeasement" towards Russia, which the West says has massed some 150,000 troops on Ukraine's border.
The past few days have seen a spectacular rise in skirmishes along the eastern front in Ukraine. International observers from the OSCE flagged more than 1,500 ceasefire violations on Thursday and Friday alone.
At the same time, the Russian and Belarusian armies are due to end joint military drills on Sunday. The exercises in Belarus, Ukraine's neighbour, began on February 10, adding to Western fears over Moscow's intentions.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that Russia's plan had "in some senses begun", which could lead to "the biggest war in Europe since 1945". He added that intelligence reports suggested Russian forces may look to invade Ukraine from the north as well as the east with the aim of encircling Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden is to hold a rare meeting of the National Security Council to deal with the Ukraine
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