Putin draws Macron's attention to fact that Kyiv still fails to comply with agreements on evacuation of civilians

MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed the problem of evacuating civilians from the areas of hostilities in Ukraine in a phone call on Sunday, the Kremlin press service said.

"They discussed the problem of evacuating civilians from the areas of hostilities. Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that Kyiv still fails to implement the agreements reached on such an acute humanitarian issue," the statement said.

"In particular, despite the 'silence regime' declared by the Russian side on March 5 for the exit of civilians and foreign citizens from Mariupol and Volnovakha, Ukrainian nationalists have not allowed the evacuation from these cities. And the pause in hostilities was again used only to build up forces and hardware on their positions. The French president was once again asked to work actively with the Kyiv authorities to ensure that they comply with international humanitarian law," it said.

Putin also briefed him on the situation in the negotiations between the Russian delegation and Ukrainian representatives.

"The readiness to continue the dialogue with unconditional fulfillment of Russia's well-known demands has been expressed. The most important thing is that the Ukrainian side takes a serious approach to reaching agreements, the implementation of which is important for the cessation of hostilities," the statement said.

The parties agreed on further contacts at different levels.