French officials have warned 'the worst is yet to come' in Russia's invasion of Ukraine following a 90-minute phone call between French president Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Putin made the call to Macron earlier today, March 3, and insisted to the French president that there would be 'continuity in the conflict at the pace he wished for', and would not stop until the 'neutralisation and disarmament' of Ukraine had been achieved, according to Politico.
Putin told Macron the war with Ukraine was 'going according to plan' and made allegations of Ukrainian war crimes, claiming people in Kyiv were using human shields and 'behaving like Nazis'.
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Russia has claimed that part of the reason behind it's invasion of Ukraine is to carry out a program of 'denazification' on the government in Kyiv, which Putin claims is perpetrating 'humiliation and genocide' on the Ukrainian people.
In response to Putin's claims and allegations, Macron told the Russian president he was 'lying' to himself, and that his invasion of Ukraine was a 'major mistake', Sky News reports.
Macron has sought to keep lines of communication with Putin open, but the tone of the phone call was described as 'pessimistic' and 'not so friendly' by French officials.
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The French president told Putin his invasion was 'punishing his own country' and that his vision of Ukraine as a Nazi regime was 'not confronting reality'.
French officials said they would toughen up the sanctions in place against the Putin regime and the oligarchs who control many of Russia's major industries.
Following the call from Putin, Macron then called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to relay the details of the conversation and warn him that Putin was intent on taking full control of Ukraine through either political or military means.
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Zelenskyy repeated his insistence that Ukraine will not surrender and would continue to pursue negotiations with the invader aimed at securing a ceasefire.
A second round of peace talks are being held in Belarus today, which has also been sanctioned for its role in aiding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but hopes that dialog will result in a ceasefire are low as experts believe Russia is making unreasonable demands that could never be met.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, World News
