Putin, Macron, Scholz discuss Ukraine in phone call

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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with his French and German counterparts over the phone.

The German government said in this regard that Scholz and Macron told Putin that the crisis in Ukraine must be resolved through negotiations and also demanded an immediate ceasefire.

The three presidents agreed, according to Germany, on maintaining close communication in the coming days.

Lavrov & Kuleba meet in Antalya

The phone call follows a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.

Lavrov further said the military operation in Ukraine only took place after the matter constituted a direct threat to Russia's security, stressing that the West's influx of weapons into Ukraine will only lead to an escalation.

Russia's Foreign Minister also revealed that Ukraine was planning to launch an attack on Donetsk and Lugansk and confirmed that there are biological laboratories operating in secret from the people of Ukraine and the international community.

Moreover, he warned those supplying Ukraine with weapons and mercenaries, saying they must understand the severity of their actions, adding that Moscow wants Ukraine to be a neutral, deweaponized country that represents no threat to Russia. He stressed, "We do not want a Nazi state at our borders."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, for his part, said Lavrov's list of demands means surrender and added that Russia is in no position to announce a ceasefire.

He stressed that Lavrov's talk denotes that Russia will continue its attack until Ukraine satisfies its demands, adding that the meeting with Lavrov was not easy, and there was no progress in achieving a ceasefire.