Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have spoken in a phone call for the first time in three years.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it was France that asked for French President Emmanuel Macron to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a pause of nearly three years and that the two leaders had a "very substantive" discussion.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have spoken on the phone for the first time in more than two and a half years. Following the more than two-hour conversation between the two,