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French President Emmanuel Macron said he phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, TASS reported.

"I had a quick, direct and frank conversation on a request from President Zelensky," Macron told reporters after the EU summit on Friday.

In his words, the aim of the conversation was a request "to end hostilities as soon as possible.".

The Kremlin said in a statement a "serious and candid" exchange of opinions about the situation around Ukraine took place during the phone conversation of the Russian and French leaders.

The Russian president clarified "causes and circumstances surrounding his decision to hold a special military operation", the Kremlin said.

The leaders agreed to stay in touch.

Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.