UPDATED: Macron makes ‘last chance’ phone call with Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Sunday in a “last ditch” diplomatic bid to avert an invasion of Ukraine as US President Joe Biden convenes a rare Sunday meeting with his national security team amid White House warnings of an attack “at any time”.

Macron’s last ditch diplomatic bid came even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his country’s Western allies to stop “a policy of appeasement” towards Moscow.

The telephone conversation between Macron and Putin lasted 105 minutes, after which the French president briefed his Ukrainian counterpart, said the Élysée presidential palace without providing details of the talks.

Following Macron’s February 7 meeting with Putin in Moscow, Sunday’s conversation between the two leaders constitutes “the last possible and necessary effort to avoid a major conflict in Ukraine”, the Élysée presidential palace said ahead of the talks.

“Every indication indicates that Russia is planning a full-fledged attack against Ukraine,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

US President Joe Biden, who earlier said he was “convinced” Russia would invade in the coming days, is convening a rare Sunday National Security Council meeting over the crisis.

US and EU officials have said they believe Moscow is attempting to fabricate a pretext for its offensive by having proxy outlets put out false information about violence in rebel-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

Photo – French President Emmanuel Macron. EPA-EFE/THIBAULT CAMUS / POOL

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