Presidents of Russia Vladimir Putin and France Emmanuel Macron have agreed to organize a meeting of a working group whose main task would be to work out conditions for a ceasefire on the line of contact in Donbas. TASS reports, citing Reuters.
It is noted that Putin and Macron recognized the expediency of finding diplomatic solutions to the situation in Ukraine. According to the agency, the Russian and French foreign ministers will discuss organization of a summit on security in Europe in the next few days.
According to RIA Novosti, the Elysee Palace communiqué noted that «the two heads of state have made firm commitments to take all useful actions to avoid escalation, reduce risks and preserve peace.»
Following the talks with Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron called Vladimir Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said on Twitter that he had informed Emmanuel Macron on the current security situation and the new provocative shelling. «We stand for intensification of peace process. We support the immediate convening of a trilateral Contact Group and immediate imposition of a silence regime,» he wrote.
The situation on the contact line in Donbass seriously escalated on the night of Thursday, February 17. The heads of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin announced that the authorities had begun evacuating residents of the people’s republics to Russia in connection with the shelling of Donbass by Ukrainian security forces. Temporary accommodation centers have been opened for evacuees from the DPR in Rostov Oblast.
The Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba denied allegations of alleged offensive operations by Ukraine or sabotage in chemical production. «Ukraine does not carry out and does not plan any such actions in Donbas. We are fully committed to a purely diplomatic settlement,» he said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee opened criminal cases on the wounding and deaths of civilians in Donbass, TASS reported. According to the investigation, a 67-year-old civilian was wounded by shrapnel as a result of overnight shelling of Skochinskiy mine area in Donetsk. Additionally, two civilians were killed in a massive artillery attack on the village of Pionerskiy in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic.
