Putin, Macron hold first phone call since 2022, talked about Ukraine, Iran

Putin, Macron hold first phone call since 2022, talked about Ukraine, Iran
French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (File/AFP)
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Updated 01 July 2025

Putin, Macron hold first phone call since 2022, talked about Ukraine, Iran

Putin, Macron hold first phone call since 2022, talked about Ukraine, Iran

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held their first known telephone conversation since 2022, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
“Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron,” the Kremlin said in a statement, making it their first such conversation since September 2022, several months after Russia launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine.
Macron urged Putin on Tuesday in a two-hour call to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine “as soon as possible”.
Macron “emphasised France’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “called for the establishment, as soon as possible, of a ceasefire and the launch of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia for a solid and lasting settlement of the conflict,” the Elysee Palace said.
On Iran, “the two presidents decided to coordinate their efforts and to speak soon in order to follow up together on this issue,” the French presidency added.


Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt

Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt
Updated 55 min 59 sec ago

Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt

Pilot error caused deadly Bangladesh jet crash: govt
  • “There was an error in his take-off,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters.
  • More than 170 people were injured in the crash, many badly burned

DHAKA: Pilot error was to blame when a fighter jet smashed into a Bangladesh school in July, killing 36 people in the country’s worst aviation crash in decades, the government said on Wednesday.
Pupils had just been let out of class when the Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft slammed into the private Milestone School and College in Dhaka on July 21.
The government announced the findings of a committee report into the crash after it was submitted to the interim leader, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
“There was an error in his take-off,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters.
More than 170 people were injured in the crash, many badly burned.
The military had initially said that the 27-year-old pilot was on a routine training mission when the jet “reportedly encountered a mechanical failure.”
He tried to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas but crashed into the two-story school building.
The crash sparked anger and demands that the air force shift its training programs from the densely populated capital.
The air force had initially rejected those demands, saying a base in the capital was important for strategic reasons.
However, Alam said the report recommended that the air force “conduct its training outside Dhaka.”
It also advised that the Civil Aviation Authority ensure “infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, warehouses, and small industries are not built near airports.”