Macron Macron pushes for de-escalation over Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday. Macron said Putin told him during their more than five-hour meeting Monday that he would not further escalate the Ukraine crisis.

According to the French president, Putin also said there won't be any Russian "permanent military base" or "deployment" in Belarus. Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine had been acting patiently in order to prevent a possible escalation from the Russian side. Macron said both Putin and Zelenskyy confirmed to him that they were willing to implement the so-called Minsk agreements aimed at ending the separatist conflict in the eastern Ukraine. The presidential advisers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will meet Thursday in Berlin to discuss the next steps.