Macron pledges more French arms and aid to Ukraine in phone call with Zelensky

French president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday vowed to send more weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as part of the international effort to help the country's fight against Russian forces.

Emmanuel Macron (left) met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky (right) in Kyiv 16 days before Vladimi Putin ordered Russian armed forces into Ukraine. AP - Efrem Lukatsky

Since the Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his country's military units into Ukraine on 24 February, France has sent 615 tons of equipment including medical supplies, generators for hospitals, food and vehicles.

Macron's pledge to offer more backing came during a one-hour telephone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

A source from the Elysee Palace said Zelensky had thanked Macron for France's shipments of military equipment which had been used by Ukrainian forces to repel the advances of Russian troops.

Continued dialogue with @EmmanuelMacron. Discussed defense cooperation, interaction on 🇺🇦’s path to 🇪🇺 membership. Grateful for 🇫🇷 humanitarian aid, readiness to treat 🇺🇦 defenders, decision to continue the work of 🇫🇷 mission to assist in the investigation of RF’s crimes.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 30, 2022

The conversation between the two leaders came just 48 hours after Macron had condemned the bombing of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv during the visit of the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres.

At a joint press conference with Zelensky at the end of his tour, Guterres admitted the UN Security Council had failed to do everything in its power to prevent and end the war.

"This is the source of great disappointment, frustration and anger," he added.

Call

During the call with Zelensky, Macron again highlighted his concern over the bombardments and said French investigators would continue their work to collect evidence on possible human rights abuses and war crimes.

More than three months after the start of the conflict, Russia said its artillery units had struck 389 Ukrainian targets overnight including arms and ammunition depots.

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in reports published on Saturday that lifting sanctions imposed on Russia is part of peace negotiations between Moscow and Ukraine, 

"At present, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations are actually discussing on a daily basis via video-conferencing a draft of a possible treaty," Lavrov said in comments to China's official Xinhua news agency published on the Russian foreign ministry's website.

Zelenskiy has insisted since the invasion that western sanctions on Russia needed to be strengthened and could not be part of peace negotiations.