“We will continue these efforts alongside the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which there can be no robust and lasting peace. For what is at stake in Ukraine is also the security of Europe as a whole,” he added.

Macron also condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the strikes that targeted Ukraine last night, in particular its energy and rail infrastructure.

“Russia is locked into an escalatory approach and is not seeking peace … We must continue to put pressure on Russia to force it to make peace,” he added.

Widespread military activities overnight affected Ukraine’s electricity grid and prompted operating nuclear power plants to reduce output, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight, the IAEA said, citing its Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.-Agencies