Sawt Falasteen - Zelensky meets Macron for talks on pressuring Russia

The visit comes as Kyiv's allies worry that a temporary lifting of Russian oil sanctions by the United States will aid Russian President Vladimir Putin, already boosted by rising energy prices due the Middle East war.

The two leaders are expected to hold a press conference on Zelensky's 12th visit to France since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

The talks will focus on increasing pressure on Russia by targeting its "shadow fleet" of tankers used to transport oil in breach of sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, the French presidency has said.

But the United States on Thursday said it was allowing the sale of Russian oil that is at sea, in a bid to cool international oil prices after US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 sparked a regional war.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the short-term measure was aimed to "increase the global reach of existing supply".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that "easing sanctions now, for whatever reason, is wrong. We believe that is the wrong course of action".

"After all, we want to ensure that Russia does not exploit the war in Iran to weaken Ukraine," he said.

During a call with US President Donald Trump earlier this week, "six members of the G7 were very clear in their opinion that this would not send the right signal," he added.

Macron had said after a G7 video call that easing sanctions on Moscow was "in no way" justified.

US-brokered talks between Kyiv and Moscow to end the Ukraine war have also been derailed by the Middle East conflict.

The Kremlin said earlier this week that the planned meeting in Paris would obstruct the peace process and that the "very idea of trying to put pressure on Russia is absurd".

Zelensky on Thursday travelled to Romania, where he agreed to launch joint drone production with Bucharest, and offered to develop anti-drone defence systems with Kyiv's European allies.

- Blocked EU loan -

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has sparked the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, forcing the displacement of millions and leaving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead on both sides.

A Russian strike in eastern Ukraine on Friday killed three people on a bus near the embattled town of Kupiansk, which Moscow's army is battling to recapture.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, which claims its forces do not target civilians.

Zelensky's visit also comes as European Union member Hungary blocked a vital 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) EU loan to Ukraine as well as a fresh round of sanctions on Russia.

Brussels said Thursday it had proposed a mission to inspect the blocked oil pipeline, and was waiting for Kyiv to respond.

Zelensky said last week it could take four to six weeks to make the pipeline operational again.

Macron earlier Friday announced the first death of a French soldier during the Middle East war in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, in what his commanding officer said was an Iranian drone attack.

Zelensky called it a "despicable attack" on military personnel in a post on X and urged Iran to put an end to attacks against its neighbouring countries.

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O.Salim--SF-PST