Russia, France agree to work for east Ukraine ceasefire; Joe Biden willing to meet Vladimir Putin

US President Joe Biden (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (File image: AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday agreed to work for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, Macron's office said.

In a phone conversation lasting 105 minutes, they also agreed on "the need to favour a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis and to do everything to achieve one", the Elysee said, adding that both countries' foreign ministers would meet "in the coming days".

US President Joe Biden is also willing to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "at any time" to defuse Ukraine war tensions, his top diplomat said Sunday, warning Russia appeared on the verge of invading its neighbor.

In a rapid-fire round of US talk shows, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN "everything we're seeing suggests that this is dead serious, that we are on the brink of an invasion."

"But until the tanks are actually rolling and the planes are flying, we will use every opportunity and every minute we have to see if diplomacy can still dissuade President Putin from carrying this forward."

Blinken told CBS's "Face the Nation" Biden has made "very clear that he's prepared to meet President Putin at any time, in any format, if that can help prevent a war."