Macron, Scholz urge Putin to release Azovstal fighters: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Schulz on Saturday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release 2,500 Ukrainian defenders at the Azov Stahl steel plant detained by Russian troops, the Elysee Palace said.
The two European leaders also called on Putin to accept direct communication with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the joint appeal, the palace said.
Russia said this month that nearly 2,000 Ukrainians had surrendered after the final battle in the ruins of Mariupol, where they had held out for weeks in bunkers and tunnels beneath the massive steel mill in Azov.
Macron and Scholz also insisted on the urgency of lifting Russia’s blockade of the port of Odessa to allow Ukrainian grain exports, the palace said. Putin told Macron and Scholz in a phone call that Russia was ready to discuss how to get Ukraine to resume grain shipments from Black Sea ports, the Kremlin said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a “special operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazification” of its southern neighbor. Ukraine and Western countries see this as a baseless claim.
