"In March, the Ukrainian president said in Jeddah that he agreed to an unconditional ceasefire. And yesterday, the Ukrainian president said he had decided to meet (with Vladimir Putin) in Istanbul. This is the second time he has made major concessions. We must all be reasonable now. Either Russia, Mr Putin, is serious and wants peace, or it is not serious and we must impose even tougher sanctions ," Macron told the press on Monday, May 12.

Western leaders, including those from the United States , issued a firm demand on Saturday, May 10, for Moscow to implement an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine beginning Monday, warning that failure to comply would trigger intensified sanctions targeting Russia’s banking and energy sectors.

Putin, however, on the same day, countered with a proposal to engage in talks in Istanbul.

“We are committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine … to remove the root causes of the conflict,” he said at a news conference. “I do not exclude that during these negotiations it will be possible to agree on some new ceasefire.”