After a five-hour meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday, which is said to have resulted in proposals for "concrete security measures" to reduce the tense situation, it was day after day for Emmanuel Macron to meet his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelensky.
After the meeting, the French president was cautiously optimistic about further discussions between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
"Now we have the opportunity to make these negotiations between Russia and Ukraine move forward," Macron told the gathering of the press after the meeting with Zelensky.
Attempts at peace process
The French president added that he sees opportunities for "concrete, practical solutions" to reduce tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
The proposals following the meeting between Macron and Putin, with the aim of reducing the tense situation, include a commitment from both sides not to take any new military action.
Zelenskyj says he welcomes the Russian words about downsizing, but quickly added that he generally "does not trust words".
He described the conversations with his French colleague as "very rewarding".
- We share President Macron's image of the threat to Ukraine, to Europe and to the whole world, and the challenges we face.
Macron, for his part, also sought to dampen expectations that may have been built on an early resolution of the conflict.
- We must not be naive.
I do not think this crisis can be resolved in a few hours of conversation, he says.
Meeting in Berlin
Upon his arrival in Kiev, Macron claimed that he had succeeded in convincing Putin not to aggravate the crisis.
I realized that there will be no deterioration or escalation, Macron said.
After the meeting in Kiev, Macron went directly to Berlin, where he spoke with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday evening.
The three stood united behind the demand for further negotiations.
In the carousel of heads of state meeting to resolve the crisis, Scholz was in Washington on Monday for talks with US President Joe Biden, and next week it is the Chancellor's turn to visit Moscow and Kiev.
On Tuesday, Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) met Britain's Defense Minister Ben Wallace and European Affairs Minister Chris Heaton-Harris in London to discuss the security policy situation.
The "deep talks" held about the Ukraine crisis testify to unity and great respect for Sweden's line, according to Linde.
The talks are unlikely to be the last, if Emmanuel Macron is right in his prediction in Kiev:
- It will take days and weeks and months of talks for us to achieve success.