New Delhi: Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, called for an urgent truce in the country's east, where hostilities between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian soldiers have escalated in recent days.


He also stated that Ukraine supports peace discussions under the Trilateral Contact Group, in which Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe all engage (OSCE), news agency Reuters reported.


Taking to Twitter, Zelensky said, "We stand for intensifying the peace process. We support the immediate convening of the TCG and the immediate introduction of a regime of silence."






Earlier today, in a last-ditch effort to stop a Russian invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday about the situation in Ukraine, news agency AFP reported. 


Macron met Putin on February 7 and has since urged his Russian counterpart, along with other Western leaders such as Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to draw back from the brink of conflict.


Macron's office stated that Sunday's call was "the last feasible and essential attempt to avert a massive confrontation in Ukraine."


More shelling was heard overnight along the frontline between government forces and the Moscow-backed separatists who control sections of the Lugansk and Donetsk provinces.


If the Kremlin launches an invasion of Ukraine, the US and Britain would shut off Russian corporations' access to US dollars and British pounds, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.


The United States and Britain have repeatedly warned that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine, a move that would spark the worst confrontation since World War II, according to Washington and London.


According to a US military officer, 40 to 50 per cent of Russian ground forces massed around Ukraine have moved into offensive positions closer to the border. 


However, Russia rejects any intention of annexing Ukraine.


Without going into specifics, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the West's constant threats that Russia was poised to attack Ukraine were provocative and may have negative repercussions.


(With Input From Agencies)