France’s Macron, in call with UK’s PM, says dialogue needed on Ukraine

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine crisis by phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and underlined the need “to maintain dialogue to de-escalate (the situation),” the French presidency said on Saturday.

Macron is due next week to visit Russia, which has massed troops near Ukraine, stoking Western fears of an invasion. Moscow denies planning to invade Ukraine.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Timothy Heritage)