BRUSSELS: According to the Elysee Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron phoned Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday to “demand an urgent halt” to Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.

“After speaking with and working with the Ukrainian president, the president (Macron) phoned Vladimir Putin to demand an urgent halt to Russian military activities, emphasising that Russia faces grave consequences,” the Elysee stated at an EU summit in Brussels.

The depiction given by Macron’s aides differed from that given by the Kremlin, which indicated only that the two presidents had a “serious and open exchange of thoughts” over Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, Putin gave Macron a “exhaustive” explanation of why he launched his force into his pro-Western neighbour.

Macron has established himself as the West’s point man on Putin, keeping a channel of contact open in the hopes of bringing diplomacy to bear.

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