Putin still not ready for peace – Macron

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is still not ready for peace in the third year of Russia's war against Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron believes. 

"For everybody in the world, it’s clear. He is the one who decided to launch this war, and he is not ready to make peace," Macron said in an interview with CNBC.

Macron recalled that Putin had refused his proposal to arrange a truce in Ukraine during the Olympic Games.

The French president noted that the Olympic truce is a tradition, and it would be "very important to use this window during one-month time", but he stressed that the truce is not the endgame for him.

"Sustainable peace is the endgame," Macron concluded.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he did not really understand the idea of a "truce" during the Paris Olympics and called the proposal a "story born dead".

At a press conference during his visit to China on 17 May, Putin commented on the idea of an Olympic truce, hinting that Moscow would not accept it.

In April, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a proposal to observe a ceasefire in the world’s major conflicts – including the war in Ukraine – during the Olympic Games, and he counted on assistance from China's leader in this regard.