"The West will increase pressure on Russia in the near future" - Macron

Western countries will increase pressure on Russia in the next eight to ten days to stop fighting in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Paris Match.

The French president believes he has managed to convince the United States “of the need to intensify threats against Moscow and, possibly, impose sanctions.”

Macron noted that possible steps by Western countries were discussed on April 26, the day of Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican, during talks with US and Ukrainian Presidents Donald Trump and Vlodymyr Zelensky, as well as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Macron said he told Trump that “we need to be much tougher with Russia to force Putin to stop the fighting.”

“It would be a mistake to put pressure only on Ukraine,” Macron added.