Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron participate in a meeting with European leaders in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Monday, August 18, for stepping up sanctions against Russia if its leader Vladimir Putin does not move forward on peace with Ukraine.
"President Trump believes we can get an agreement and believes that President Putin also wants a peace accord," Macron told reporters after talks at the White House. "But if at the end this process is met by refusal, we are also ready to say that we need to increase sanctions."
He pointed to recent secondary sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on India, which has emerged as a major buyer of Russian energy as Western nations cut back due to sanctions following Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The secondary sanctions on India have "had a lot of effects," Macron said.
Trump invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House three days after the US president welcomed Putin for talks in Alaska. Over the weekend, Trump again publicly pressured Ukraine to concede territory, siding with Putin and not Zelensky, who has insisted on defending all the territory that Russia has taken by force.
