Kremlin says France was the one who asked for Macron call with Putin after almost three-year pause

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it was France that asked for French President Emmanuel Macron to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a pause of nearly three years and that the two leaders had a “very substantive” discussion.

The two leaders spoke on Tuesday and discussed the Iran-Israel conflict and Ukraine, the first such exchange between the two men since September 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the call had lasted for more than two hours.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)