The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says his three-way call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin was very frank and also difficult.
French officials said the Russian leader gave no indication during the call Saturday lasting more than an hour that he intends to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
European leaders are working on what they describe as a punishing new set of massive economic sanctions against Moscow in the hope of getting Putin to change his mind.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he's open for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Israel ,but only if there is a cease-fire in place.
Zelenskyy said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he would be ready to meet Putin in Jerusalem. Bennett visited Moscow for a meeting with Putin and spoke repeatedly with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France and Germany as he sought to help mediate an end to the war.
Zelenskyy said Bennett informed him about his talks with Putin, adding that he can't share details.
Putin has ignored numerous previous offers of talks from Zelenskyy.
Speaking at a news conference, Zelenskyy said the Russians could take the Ukrainian capital "only if they kill us all.
If that is their goal, let them come," he said. "If they carry out carpet bombings and wipe off the historic memory of the entire region, the history of Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, they could enter Kyiv but they will have to leave on that land alone, certainly without us.
Even if they bring a million Russians here, they can't occupy Ukraine, he added.
