Putin's spokesman vows to push ahead with Moscow's efforts to clarify the true state of affairs in the region

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin strongly disagrees with the statement made by French President Emmanuel Macron who called Russia an aggressor in the Donbass region and will push ahead with its efforts to clarify the true state of affairs, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We do not agree with our French counterparts in terms of the wordings we heard from Mr. President yesterday. Of course, the Russian side will continue to patiently clarify the true state of affairs and its stance on the Ukrainian issue," he said.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, the French president’s speech "emphasizes the importance of the Normandy format, which is the only platform for discussing and continuing attempts to resolve this intra-Ukrainian crisis, and there is no alternative to it."

On Monday, Macron met with Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko in Paris. After the meeting, the French leader commented on the Ukrainian crisis. In addition to that, he called the history of relations between Ukraine and France rather deep.

"The Kievan Rus was a period in history, one can hardly question that, there is nothing more to add here," Peskov said commenting on the issue.