Ukraine’s Zelensky set to meet with French President Macron

PARIS

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold talks on ways to increase pressure on Russia in Paris today with President Emmanuel Macron, the French presidency said on March 12.

With new Ukraine-Russia talks touted for new week, Zelensky is also expected in Spain in coming days as he seeks to reinforce support in Europe.

The French presidency said the talks would focus on increasing sanctions pressure on Russia by targeting its "shadow fleet" of tankers used to transport oil and other products in breach of the sanctions imposed since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that some oil sanctions would be lifted as part of attempts to keep international oil prices down. He did not say, however, whether this included Russia, though he spoke to Russia's President Vladimir Putin on March 9.

Zelensky and Macron would also discuss diplomatic efforts to halt the war, Macron's office added.

Zelensky yesterday arrived in Romania, where he was to visit an F-16 fighter jet training center and meet Romania's leader, before visiting France.

NATO member Romania is an important ally of Kiev. 

The United States has proposed new trilateral U.S.-Russia-Ukraine talks be held next week. According to Zelensky, the talks could be held in Switzerland or Türkiye. 

Planned talks between Zelensky and Macron on ways to increase pressure on Russia will only obstruct the peace process, the Kremlin said yesterday.

"The Kiev regime is continuing its consistent line of obstructing the peace process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "The very idea of trying to put pressure on Russia is absurd," he added.

The Kremlin also accused Ukraine yesterday of targeting a major gas pipeline in southern Russia that leads to Türkiye with "reckless" drone strikes.

Ukraine has hit Russian energy targets throughout Moscow's four-year offensive, a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

"At night, there were renewed attempts to attack the Russkaya compressor station with drones," Peskov said, calling the pipeline an "international facility" that "ensures energy security for Türkiye".

"These are absolutely reckless actions by the Kiev regime," Peskov said.

Meanwhile, Putin's envoy said on March 11 that he had joined a "productive meeting" with U.S. negotiators, the first talks between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Iran war.

The discussions in Florida come after the U.S. lifted some sanctions on Russian oil earlier this week, imposed because of Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to ease prices as war engulfed the Middle East.

Thank you, Steve, Jared, and Josh, for a productive meeting," Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev posted on X, referring to Trump's roving global envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum.

"The teams discussed a variety of topics and agreed to stay in touch," Witkoff posted earlier.

"We discussed promising projects that could contribute to the restoration of Russian-American relations and the current crisis on global energy markets," Dmitriev wrote in a Telegram post.