President Emmanuel Macron said that Europeans will impose tougher sanctions on Russia if it does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. He added that Paris is ready to discuss the deployment of its nuclear military aircraft in other European countries.

In an interview with TF1 television, Macron stressed that France supports Ukraine in its new efforts to force Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, but added that the West does not want a "Third World War."

"Our intention is to impose sanctions" if Russia does not comply with the ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by Kiev's European allies, he said.

In recent months, France has taken the lead in seeking a coordinated European response to protect Ukraine, with Macron using his cordial relations with US President Donald Trump in negotiations to end the three-year war.

On May 10, the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, and Poland called on Russia to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting on May 12.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Putin to attend the talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey on May 15 in person, but Moscow has not yet announced who will represent it.

The European Union has already imposed 16 rounds of sanctions against Russia since Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

A week later, the 17th round will be adopted. The financial sector and hydrocarbons have been largely spared by the sanctions.

Macron also stressed that there is "no legal framework" for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets and that this "is not a good solution."

The French president added that Ukraine recognizes that it cannot regain all the territories occupied by Russia since 2014.

"We must help Ukraine defend itself, but we do not want to provoke a Third World War. The war must stop and Ukraine must be in the best possible position to start negotiations," Macron said.

"Even the Ukrainians are clear that they do not have the capacity to take back everything that has been taken since 2014," he added.

Prior to the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and backed forces that seized parts of two eastern Ukrainian regions. | BGNES