Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 29, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Macron warns that if Putin doesn't meet Zelenskiy by Monday, he may have deceived Trump, who has set a deadline for the meeting.
PARIS (Reuters) -If Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't commit by Monday to meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he would have duped U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
"If that doesn't happen by Monday, the deadline set by President Trump, it means that once again President Putin played President Trump," Macron said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday.
Trump has threatened "consequences" if the Russian and Ukrainian leaders don't meet.
Zelenskiy also recalled on Friday a statement by Trump that he would give Putin a week or two to agree on a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian leader before potentially announcing new action against Russia.
"Two weeks will be on Monday. And we will remind everybody," Zelenskiy said.
(Reporting by Michel RoseEditing by Ros Russell)
Macron stated that if Putin does not commit to meeting Zelenskiy by Monday, it would mean he has once again deceived Trump.
Trump has threatened 'consequences' if the Russian and Ukrainian leaders do not meet.
Zelenskiy noted that the two-week deadline set by Trump would be on Monday, and he emphasized the need to remind everyone of this.
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