Russia and Ukraine call for talks amid intense shellfire

Ukraine and Russia called for intensified diplomatic efforts Sunday to avert all-out war, each blaming the other for a sharp escalation in shelling on the front line separating Kyiv’s forces from Moscow-backed separatists.

Washington is warning a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent, and Macron’s office dubbed the calls “the last possible and necessary efforts to avoid a major conflict in Ukraine”.

Putin repeated a call for “the United States and Nato to take Russian demands for security guarantees seriously”. But he added that the two leaders “believe it is important to intensify efforts to find solutions through diplomatic means”.

Macron’s office also said the two had agreed on “the need to favour a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis and to do everything to achieve one”, adding that both countries’ foreign ministers would meet “in the coming days”.