Russian and French Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, continued to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday after their telephone conversation, TASS reports.
"The leaders continued to exchange views of the current aspects of the situation around Ukraine, including in the context of today’s round of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul," it said.
According to the Kremlin, special attention was focused on humanitarian matters. "The Russian president informed [his French counterpart] about the measures taken by the Russian military to provide emergency humanitarian assistance and ensure safe evacuation of civilians, including from Mariupol," it said. "It was stressed that Ukrainian nationalist militants must stop resistance and surrender arms in order to resolve the difficult humanitarian situation in that city."
The presidents also discussed the issue of paying for Russian gas in rubles in case of foreign supply from April 1. Macron stated that it is impossible to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
