French President Emanuel Macron will meet tomorrow, Friday, with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris, where they will discuss, among other things, “means to increase pressure on Russia” after four years of war “especially the battle against its shadow fleet,” the Elysee Palace announced today.

The two leaders “will also exchange views on the conditions for a just and lasting peace and, in this context, will assess the commitments made within the framework of the Alliance of the Willing on security guarantees,” the French presidency noted.

Ukraine’s allies again asked Russia on February 24 for an “unconditional ceasefire” despite Macron appearing “very sceptical” about the possibility of achieving “peace in the short term”

Also, the Warmist Alliance agreed in January to deploy, with US “support”, a multinational force to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, and that a US-led mechanism would monitor the ceasefire.

On his new visit to Paris tomorrow, Zelensky will discuss with his French counterpart “the support of France and European partners to help Ukraine defend itself.”

As US President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that he might lift oil sanctions because of the sharp rise in prices due to the war in the Middle East, without specifying whether this would apply to Russia, G7 countries reiterated yesterday that the situation does not “in any way” justify easing sanctions against Moscow.

In this context Macron and Zelensky will refer to Russia’s “shadow fleet”.

On the battlefield, Russian forces recorded the smallest gains in Ukraine in February since the spring of 2024 due to Ukrainian counterattacks mainly in the southeast, according to an AFP analysis based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia is in a state of “military, strategic and economic failure”, the Elysee Palace assessed.

New negotiations

For its part, the US has proposed holding a new round of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow next week, with US mediation. According to Zelensky, these talks could take place in Switzerland or Turkey.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said he had a “constructive meeting” yesterday, Wednesday, in Florida with U.S. negotiators, including Steve Whitcoff, Trump’s special envoy.

These were the first talks between the Russians and Americans since the start of the war in Iran.

“Thank you Steve, Jared and Josh for a productive meeting,” Dmitriev wrote in a post on X, referring to Donald Trump’s special envoy, US presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House adviser Josh Grunbaum.

“We discussed many projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations, as well as the current crisis in the global energy markets,” Dmitriev said on Telegram this morning.

“Today many countries, first and foremost the US, are beginning to better understand the key role (…) of Russian oil and gas in ensuring the stability of the global economy, as well as the ineffectiveness and destructive nature of sanctions against Russia,” he argued.

“The groups discussed a variety of issues and decided to stay in touch,” Whitkov, for his part, commented in X after the meeting with Dmitriev.