MOSCOW: Amid rising tensions in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an extraordinary meeting of the security council on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The issues to be discussed in the meeting was not clarified by the spokesperson. When asked, if the meeting is regular, Peskov reportedly said, "Not a regular one."
The recent tensions are a result of Russia's build-up of around 150,000 troops just over the border from the Donbas region in the east, in Belarus to the north and Crimea to the south, which began in the autumn.
Russia claims the surge of forces has always been for military exercises and that it poses no threat to Ukraine or any other nation, but has refused to offer any other explanation for the biggest build-up of military might in Europe since the Cold War.
On Saturday, Russia's Rostov Region had opened 15 border crossings for refugees from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. Later on the same day, Denis Pushilin, the head of pro-Russian separatist DPR announced that he had signed a decree on general mobilisation.
Yesterday, Putin and Macron held phone talks at the French side's initiative. The presidents agreed on the trilateral group (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE - Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) talks on Ukraine to be held on Monday, according to media reports. The Russian president also reportedly confirmed to Macron the intention to withdraw troops from Belarus after the ongoing joint military exercise is over.