Macron postpones Ukraine visit for third time in a month

The Elysée Palace has confirmed that President Emmanuel Macron has postponed his scheduled visit to Ukraine, but has said the French premier would travel to Kyiv in the coming weeks. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands after a press conference, Friday, 16 February 2024 at the Elysée Palace in Paris. AP - Thibault Camus

The stalling of Macron's visit to Ukraine is the third time a planned trip to the country has been postponed since February.

The French president had initially said he planned go in February to sign a bilateral security accord with President Volodymr Zelensky, but that was shelved with Zelensky eventually coming to Paris to conclude the deal.

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

The Elysée said Sunday, that the two leaders spoke by phone earlier in the day, adding: "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."

Our call with @EmmanuelMacron was lengthy and, as usual, focused.

We discussed the current battlefield situation and the recent international Paris conference in support of Ukraine.

I thanked President Macron for France’s strong February 16th military aid package, as well as…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 10, 2024

France hardens position against Russia

The postponement comes just days after a Russian missile missed Ukraine's president and the prime minister of Greece by hundreds of metres when it slammed into port infrastructure in the Black Sea city of Odesa.

Macron had also been due to visit the Black Sea port.

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In recent weeks, the French president has 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 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.

The French presidency is reportedly considering whether to broaden the trip to Ukraine to include other Western heads of state to join Macron rather than a simple bilateral visit, in an effort to show unity among allies and solidarity with Kyiv.