French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that tensions on the Poland-Belarus border where migrants have been massing had to be de-escalated.

After a telephone conversation lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes between Macron and Putin, the Elysee palace said that “it is our hope that this long conversation will yield results in the coming days”.

Putin promised Macron that “he will raise the topic” with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

The migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland where migrants have been flocking since the beginning of the year, sharply aggravated on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from Belarus and refused to leave the area. EU countries have accused Minsk of the intentional escalation of the crisis and have called for sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the Western countries themselves were to blame for the situation since people were fleeing the war in their homelands because of the West’s actions.