New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to free the 2,500 Ukrainian Azovstal steel plant fighters arrested by Russian forces, news agency Reuters reported.
In a combined call, the two European leaders also persuaded Putin to accept a direct meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the Elysee palace.
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Russia said this month that around 2,000 Ukrainians had surrendered after a last fight amid the ruins of Mariupol, where they had been holed up for weeks in bunkers and tunnels beneath the massive Azovstal steelworks.
According to the Elysee palace, Macron and Scholz both emphasised the need of easing the Russian embargo on the port of Odesa in order to facilitate Ukrainian grain shipments.
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Putin informed Macron and Scholz during the phone that Russia was prepared to explore options to allow Ukraine to resume grain supplies from Black Sea ports, according to the Kremlin.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine in a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its southern neighbour. This has been criticised by Ukraine and Western nations as a spurious excuse for war.
(With Inputs From Reuters)