Putin scheduled to have phone call with Macron amid Russia-Ukraine tensions

Moscow [Russia], February 19 (ANI): Kremlin has confirmed a scheduled phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday amid the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, media reports said.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to have a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday," Sputnik News Agency reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
"Yes. It is scheduled," Peskov said when asked whether such a telephone call was on the president's schedule.
Tensions have built up in Eastern Ukraine since Russia's build-up of around 150,000 troops just over the border from the Donbas region in the east, in Belarus to the north and Crimea to the south.
Russia claims the surge of forces, which is the biggest build-up of military might in Europe since the Cold War, has always been for military exercises and that it poses no threat to Ukraine or any other nation.
On January 25, the French President expressed concern about the situation near the borders of Ukraine and voiced the need to work for quick de-escalation.
"President Macron expressed his deep concern over the situation on the Ukrainian border and the need to work collectively to de-escalate it quickly. This de-escalation must involve strong, credible warnings to Russia, requiring constant coordination among European partners and allies, as well as a stepped-up dialogue with Russia, which we are in the process of conducting," reported Sputnik News Agency quoting the Elysee Palace.
Meanwhile, tensions increased on Saturday with the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region signing a decree on general mobilization. The Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik that Rostov Region has opened 15 border crossings for refugees from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, which includes the Donetsk region.
Defence officials in Moscow have said since Tuesday that troops and military hardware are pulling back, having completed some of the drills. Western intelligence officials say, on the contrary, maintain that Russia has moved roughly 7,000 more troops close to the borders in recent days. (ANI)