France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said it is vital that Russia is not humiliated so that a diplomatic solution can be found once fighting stops in Ukraine.

He said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had made a “historic and fundamental mistake” by invading Ukraine and was now “isolated”.

Macron said he told Putin that he had “made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself and for history” in an interview with regional newspapers.

Macron said:

I think he has isolated himself. Isolating oneself is one thing, but being able to get out of it is a difficult path.

Russia should not be “humiliated... so that the day the fighting stops we can pave a way out through diplomatic means”, he said, adding that he was “convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power”.

Macron has spoken with Putin regularly since the Russian president ordered his troops into Ukraine. France has supported Ukraine militarily and financially but unlike many other EU leaders, Macron has not yet travelled to Ukraine to show his support.