After a month's break in talks, French President Emmanuel Macron called Russian President Vladimir Putin again on Tuesday.

According to the Elysée Palace, they exchanged for two hours and ten minutes.

The aim was to convince Putin of the need for a ceasefire.

The Kremlin then announced that Putin had asked Macron to stop arms deliveries.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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The call was arranged after close consultation with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, according to reports from the Elysee Palace.

France currently holds the EU Council Presidency, and a new package of sanctions against Russia is to be adopted.

Macron could play an intermediary role, said the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, on Tuesday on the French news channel LCI.

He trusts Macron to "negotiate an end to the war on the diplomatic front," said Klitschko.

Macron has promised to travel to Kyiv "if that is useful".

Also because of the German sensitivities, he has refrained from doing so for the time being.

"Then you'll have someone sitting across from you who denies everything"

Macron last called Putin on March 29.

Macron explained in the regional newspaper "Ouest-France" that he had "not picked up the phone since the pictures of Butscha".

He was "stunned and devastated" by the Russian atrocities.

It was "hard" to talk to Putin and "experience for hours how facts are denied".

"Then someone sits across from you who denies everything, laughs about it and talks about staging," he explained.

At the same time, Macron signaled his willingness to continue talking to Putin if the Ukrainian government made any promises.

"I have contacted Putin in the past whenever the Ukrainian president asked me to do so," he said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had sharply criticized the phone calls.

At the weekend, Macron and Selenskyj had exchanged views on further strategy.

The French President pledged that he would actively work to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity to Ukraine during his second term in office.

There should be no doubt that Crimea also belongs to the territory of Ukraine.

Macron is expected to be officially inaugurated on May 7th and plans to travel to Berlin immediately afterwards.

Coordination with the allies is important.

Macron stressed that he would increase military aid.

France has already supplied Ukraine with heavy weapons such as Caesar howitzers and Milan anti-tank missiles.

Ukrainian soldiers are trained in France.

Unlike in Germany, there is no public debate about whether France can become a party to the war against its will.

Macron has always emphasized that his goal is to prevent further escalation.

That also means winning over the partners in the Persian Gulf, in India and in China for the policy of putting pressure on Russia.

It must be prevented that only Europe and the United States oppose Moscow.