Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the West may contribute to the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict by increasing pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky and suspending weaponry delivery to Ukraine.

Putin was chatting with French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone for the first time in more than a month.

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The French president once again called for a cease-fire and peace talks to resolve the violence precipitated by Russia’s intervention.

He also asked Putin to enable additional evacuations in Mariupol.

The city has witnessed some of the worst combat of the war, and hundreds of civilians are reported to be trapped beneath the debris of an Azovstal steel complex captured by Ukrainian forces.

Western countries have heavily supplied Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and the UK made a new offer of military equipment worth £300 million ($376 million) on Tuesday, including electronic warfare equipment, a radar system, GPS jammers, and night-vision devices.

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Since the invasion on February 24, thousands of people, both soldiers, and civilians, have been killed or injured, and more than 5.5 million have fled abroad as refugees.

Russian forces have withdrawn from the capital Kyiv region in order to concentrate their efforts in eastern Ukraine.

According to a Kremlin statement, Putin accused Ukrainian forces of committing war crimes by shelling towns in eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists control substantial regions.

There have been a number of attacks on residential areas in separatist-controlled areas since the invasion began, but nothing on the scale of Russian forces hitting government-held towns. Ukraine denies that it has shelled residential areas.

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Russian forces have been accused of atrocities, notably those in Bucha, a town outside of Kyiv.

The Russian president insisted on Russia’s willingness to engage in discussion with Ukraine.

According to a statement issued by the Élysée Palace, Macron urged Putin to cease Russia’s “war of aggression” and stated that he was willing to assist in achieving a negotiated settlement to the situation that respected Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the French president, who was re-elected last month, has spoken with Putin multiple times.

He stated that he was willing to collaborate with “competent international organisations” to help ease Russia’s embargo on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports so that food exports could restart.