Putin, Macron discuss Navalny, Belarus, over phone

Moscow, Sep 15 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as well as the situation in Belarus, Ukraine and Libya over telephone.

Putin emphasized the “inappropriateness of unfounded accusations” against Russia, adding that in order to discover what truly happened, Germany should share Navalny’s biomaterials, the Kremlin said in a statement on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

As for Belarus, which witnessed mass protests due to the refusal of the opposition to recognize the results of the country’s presidential elections, Putin reiterated Moscow’s position on the “inadmissibility” of foreign interference and external pressure, it said.

“When discussing the intra-Ukrainian conflict, concern was expressed over the lack of progress in the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements, which remain the uncontested basis for settlement,” it read.

Putin and Macron also touched upon the need for a political settlement in Libya.

–IANS

rt/