MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron at France's initiative, the Kremlin press service said on Sunday.
"As a follow-up to discussions during the French president's recent visit to Moscow and regular phone contacts, the parties had a detailed exchange of views on the situation surrounding Ukraine as well as on elaborating long-term legal guarantees for the Russian Federation's security," the statement said.
During the phone call, "serious concern was expressed about the sharp deterioration of the situation on the line of contact in Donbas," the press service said.
"The Russian president noted that escalation is caused by provocations of Ukrainian military forces. Attention was drawn to the ongoing 'pumping' of Ukraine with advanced weapons and ammunition by NATO countries that is pushing Kyiv towards a military solution to the so-called 'Donbas problem'. As a result, civilians of the DPR and LPR [the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics] are suffering and have to evacuate to Russia to escape the intensifying shelling," the statement said.
It was reiterated during the talk "that Kyiv only imitates the negotiation process, persistently refuses to implement the Minsk Agreements and the agreements reached in the Normandy format," the press service said.
"Taking into account the severity of the current situation, the presidents deemed it advisable to step up the search for solutions by diplomatic means through the foreign ministries and political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries. These contacts are intended to help restore the ceasefire regime and ensure progress in resolving the conflict over Donbas," it said.
With all this in mind, Putin "once again emphasized the need for the United States and NATO to take Russia's demands for ensuring security guarantees with utmost seriousness and respond to them concretely and substantively."
The two presidents agreed to continue contacts at various levels, the press service added.