PARIS – A visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Ukraine should take place in the coming weeks, the French presidency said on March 10, the third time a planned trip to the country has been postponed since February 2024.

Mr Macron had initially said he planned to go in February to sign a bilateral security accord with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

That was postponed, with Mr Zelensky eventually coming to Paris to conclude the accord.

Diplomats said a second date had been planned at the start of March before being pushed back to later this week.

“The two heads of state agreed to remain in close contact, notably regarding the President’s visit to Ukraine, which should happen in the coming weeks,” the French presidency said after the two leaders spoke by phone earlier on March 10.

The postponement comes just days after a Russian missile missed Mr Zelensky and the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis by hundreds of metres when it slammed into port infrastructure in the Black Sea city of Odesa.

Mr Macron had also been due to visit Odesa.

Mr Macron has in recent weeks adopted a tougher position on Russia, accusing it of being more aggressive towards France and Europe and vowing that Moscow had to be defeated.

He has called on European allies to do more urgently to help Ukraine, and faced a backlash from many Western allies after he said the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out.

Two diplomatic sources said the French presidency was considering whether to broaden out the trip to Ukraine to include other Western heads of state to join Mr Macron, rather than a simple bilateral trip as an effort to show unity among allies and solidarity with Ukraine. REUTERS