French President Emmanuel Macron warned Vladimir Putin that the Russian leader was "lying" to himself and making a "major mistake" in Ukraine that will cost Russia dearly in the long term, while Putin vowed that Russia will keep up its fight, according to separate accounts from Paris and Moscow of the leaders' long-distance conversation on March 3.
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As Putin's massive invasion of Ukraine entered its second week, Macron said there was "nothing in what President Putin said that could reassure us," an unnamed French presidential aide said, according to AFP.
Macron believes "the worst is to come" in Ukraine after what was reportedly a 90-minute phone call with Putin, according to the aide.
Ukrainian and Russian delegates gathered for challenging cease-fire talks in southern Belarus on March 3, the second such effort since the invasion began.
Putin suggested he could add to his demands if talks with Ukrainian officials don't go Moscow's way, according to the Kremlin account of the conversation.
Putin suggested there were "attempts to buy time by dragging out the negotiations" and said such efforts "would only lead to additional demands on Kyiv in our negotiating position."
Putin also was said to have vowed to achieve his goals of "demilitarizing" and making a neutral neighbor of Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Putin repeated his unsubstantiated account of Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine as a battle against militants and armed nationalists in neighboring Ukraine, which was already fighting an eight-year war against Russia-backed separatists in its east.
Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities has intensified in the past day, with more than 1 million Ukrainian war refugees already abroad. But Ukrainian military and civil defense measures showing fierce resistance.
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"Russia intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups," Putin's office quoted him telling Macron, echoing the unsubstantiated "de-Nazification" rationale that the Russian leader cited when he launched the attack on February 24.
Macron delivered an address to the French people on March 2 in which he denounced "lies" being spread by the Russian government to justify its invasion and said Putin had chosen to launch an "ignoble war...alone and deliberately."
Putin told Macron he disagreed with the speech, the Kremlin said.
In his address, Macron said he would stay in contact with Putin.
Macron has said he is in constant contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is helping defend Kyiv and whom the French leader described as "the face of honor, freedom, and courage."