Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Vladimir Putin is "too scared" to meet him in Turkey for ceasefire talks on Thursday

The French president's comments echoed those by German Chancellor Merz, who said European allies would roll out "a significant tightening of sanctions" on Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.

France's president said Tuesday that he was in favor of imposing new sanctions on Russia if it refuses to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. "Our intention is to impose new sanctions against Russia in the coming days" if it does not implement a ceasefire, Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with broadcaster TF1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy comments mark the latest move in a weekend-long exchange of proposals from both sides on the next steps in the U.S.-led peace effort.

Three-day ceasefire in Ukraine that was unilaterally declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month was set to come into effect at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday (midnight Moscow time), as Russia prepares to mark the anniversary of its World War II Victory Day on Friday.

The announcement was made by leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine after a meeting in Kyiv, and a phone call with President Trump.

They said that if President Vladimir V. Putin did not agree to the cease-fire, more sanctions would be imposed.

Latvia's intelligence service has warned of a potential Russian attack on NATO as the US-led military alliance continues to monitor a major build-up of Kremlin forces as the Ukrainian war rages on