French President Emmanuel Macron fears ‘the worst is yet to come’ in the war in Ukraine following a phone call call Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports.
Elysée officials told reporters that Putin expressed “son great determination” to pursue son military offensive with the objective “to take complete control of Ukraine”, according to a report by BFMTV news.
The 90-minute exchange initiated by the Russian head of state failed to cede any assurances from Russia to slow down the military offensive even that new talks between Moscow and Kyiv has begun on the Belarusian-Polish border on Thursday evening.
Putin also threatened to increase his demands with Kyiv to achieve the Moscow goal of demilitarization and neutral status for Ukraine, according to the report.
Macron allegedly told Putin that he was “lying to himself” and making a “big mistake”by choosing to continue the war as it will result in international sanctions that would weaken and isolate Moscow for a very long time.
But Putin told Macron that Russian military operations were developing “according to plan” and would “worse” if the Ukrainians did not agree to his terms, according to another report by French newspaper Le Monde.
Macron then shared details about the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian evoked sentiments similar to Macron’s earlier when he said the worst was yet to come as major Ukrainian cities are at risk. risk of fall under the Russian siege.
