Ukraine leader Zelensky to plead for support from French lawmakers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address French MPs in the National Assembly on Wednesday as part of diplomatic efforts to rally international support for his country. The move follows a phone call between the French and Russian presidents.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is to speak to the French parliament on Wednesday. AP

Zelensky has spoken to the US Congress as well as German lawmakers to plead for assistance following Russian President Vladimir Putin's military invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky will speak to French MPs via a video link from his office in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

The French presidency earlier confirmed that a phone call between Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about the conditions needed for a potential cease-fire had led to "no agreement".

It said Macron remained convinced of the need to continue his effort, adding he stood alongside Ukraine in its battle against Russian agression.

Eye on EU

It is understood that will Zelensky will on Wednesday ask French lawmakers to argue Ukraine's case for a swift integration into the European Union.

The proposal was placed on the back burner two weeks ago during a meeting of European heads of state in Versailles, south of Paris.

Macron, who hosted the meeting, said he wanted to send a strong signal to Ukraine and to the Ukrainians of solidarity.

But he added: "We must be vigilant. I do believe it is possible to open an accession procedure with a country at war."

The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said: "There is no fast-track procedure to become a member of the EU."

Nazi comparisons

During his address, which will be translated simultaneously from Ukrainian, it is believed Zelensky will also allude to France's celebrated resistance to the Nazi occupation during WWII between 1939 and 1945.

Zelensky's move to woo French politicians comes as Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said an agreement had been reached to try to evacuate civilians trapped in Ukrainian towns and cities through nine “humanitarian corridors”.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with Peter Maurer, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“The agenda of the meeting envisages discussion of the key areas of the ICRC’s work in the field of humanitarian response,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.