The leaders of France and Germany on Friday vowed to step up pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine, warning that President Vladimir Putin was showing little appetite to end Moscow’s 3½-year onslaught against its neighbour.
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French President Emmanuel Macron said that Putin would have “played” US President Donald Trump if the Russian leader failed to fulfil a pledge to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added it looked like Putin was “unwilling” to hold such a meeting and said that the war looked like it would last “many more months”.
In Kyiv, Zelensky said the death toll from Russia’s barrage on Thursday against the Ukrainian capital had risen by two to 25.
France and Germany on Friday agreed to send additional air defence hardware to Ukraine following the deadly Russian attack on Kyiv, and to open a strategic dialogue about nuclear deterrence.
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Trump moved to restore dialogue with Moscow at the start of his second presidency, but diplomatic efforts to end the conflict sparked by Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbour appear to have lost momentum.