President of the European Council Charles Michel held a phone conversation with Putin on April 22. He urged the russian president to directly interact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Guardian quoted an EU representative as saying.
According to him, Michel unequivocally stressed the unacceptability of russia's war against Ukraine and outlined in detail the essence of the sanctions.
He also called on the russian federation for an Easter truce and the creation of a safe corridor for people from cities under siege, such as Mariupol.
An outline of the conversation from the Kremlin says that Putin agrees to direct negotiations with Zelenskyy only if the ongoing discussions between the countries “will bring concrete results”.
This week Charles Michel visited Kyiv. He also visited Borodyanka, which was destroyed by the russian occupiers.
Almost no Western leaders have met or called Putin since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The first visitor was Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer. He urged Putin to stop the war and said he had held “direct and tough” negotiations.