The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it was France that asked for French President Emmanuel Macron to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a pause of nearly three years and that the two leaders had a "very substantive" discussion.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine "as soon as possible" as the two held their first known phone talks in over two-and-a-half years,

It was the two leaders’ first call since 2022, and the Russian president’s first with any major European leader since last year.