French President Emmanuel Macron has convened his country's defence and security council for a meeting Monday to assess the situation in Ukraine, his office said.

The gathering of the council, headed by Macron and featuring a small number of key ministers, comes after the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would recognise the independence of Ukraine's eastern breakaway republics.

Earlier Monday, Macron again spoke with Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the presidency said.

He also spoke twice with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and conferred with European Council President Charles Michel and EU Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen.

"There will be further contacts throughout the evening," the Elysee said.

Earlier Monday, France had announced that Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris Friday to lay groundwork for a mooted summit between US President Joe Biden and Putin.

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Belarus says Russian forces to remain for more drills
Moscow (AFP) Feb 20, 2022
Belarus said Sunday that joint exercises involving Russia and Belarus forces were being extended due to tension over Ukraine, despite promises from Moscow that the drills would end this weekend. "The presidents of Belarus and Russia decided to continue inspections of the readiness of Union State forces," the Belarusian defence minister Victor Khrenin said in a statement. He said the decision was taken due to increased military activity along the Belarusian and Russian borders and because of an " ... read more