French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris will provide additional military aid to Ukraine in the amount of about 2 billion euros. He accused Russia of interpreting and rewriting recent agreements on a limited ceasefire.

"Today I can announce 2 billion euros of additional military support for Ukraine," Macron said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris.

The French president added that anti-tank missiles, surface-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles and drones were part of the new military equipment to be provided to Kiev. More Mirage fighter jets will also be provided.

Regarding ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Macron said Moscow should accept the 30-day ceasefire offered by Kiev. The French president accused Russia of still showing a "desire for war."

Macron said it was too early to consider lifting sanctions against Russia, even though the US was trying to pressure Moscow to accept a ceasefire in its war against Ukraine.

"We're not going to lift sanctions, so it's very early. In the end, sanctions depend only on Russia's choice of aggression and therefore their lifting depends only on Russia's choice to respect international law," the French leader said.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky said it was too early to discuss specific roles of future European powers in Ukraine. Zelensky's words came after his official said Kiev needs a strong European presence, not just peacekeepers.

The Ukrainian president said the question was "who will be ready" to participate in such missions. "It's too early to say," he added, referring to what role the force could play in preserving a possible ceasefire in Ukraine's more than three-year-old war with Russia.

The two presidents spoke a day ahead of a summit of the so-called "coalition of the willing" to be held on March 27 in Paris. | BGNES