During the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Putin assured Macron that Kiev strongly refuses to implement the Minsk Agreements.

According to the Kremlin statement: "During a phone call with Macron, Putin pointed out that the provocations of the Ukrainian military were the cause of the escalation in Donbass."

On Russia's security demands, Putin said: "The United States and NATO must take Russia's security demands seriously and provide objective answers."

The statement concludes: "Putin and Macron agreed on the importance of intensifying efforts to seek solutions to the crisis in Donbass across the lines of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and political advisers of the Normandy formula."