Exclusive footage from a French documentary has revealed the moment President Emmanuel Macron made a dramatic early-hours phone call to then-US leader Donald Trump, announcing a potential breakthrough ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
The 3am Breakthrough Call
In the clip, filmed for France Télévisions, Macron is seen calling from Kyiv in the early hours of May 10. He apologises for the timing before delivering significant news: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed to European-backed terms for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire with Russia, to be monitored by the United States.
"Donald, I know it's very early for you. I'm sorry to call you at this time," Macron says, before explaining the agreement. A clearly pleased Trump responds by asking, "He accepted everything?" before joking, "Oh, well. The Nobel Peace Prize for that." The US president had repeatedly expressed a desire to win the award.
Moments later, Trump is heard praising the French leader, muttering "You're the best" as European leaders prepared to brief him jointly on the development.
European Unity and Swift Collapse
A second sequence, filmed minutes later, shows Macron standing alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, Keir Starmer, Poland's Donald Tusk, and Germany's Friedrich Merz. They warn Trump that journalists are present while restating the agreement reached with Kyiv.
However, hopes for the truce proved fleeting. A few hours later, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the proposed ceasefire. Instead, he proposed 'direct negotiations' with Ukraine, scheduled for May 16.
These Moscow-desired talks were held in Istanbul, but without the presence of either president. Russia sent a junior advisor, Vladimir Medinsky. Further 'direct' negotiations in the Turkish city in early June also ended in failure.
A History of Revealed Diplomatic Calls
This is not the first time French television has unveiled details of a confidential diplomatic call. In 2022, a recording revealed a furious telephone exchange between Macron and Putin just four days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In that fiery discussion, from February 20, Macron blasted Putin over suggestions he should negotiate with pro-Russian separatists. "I don't know where your lawyers learned the law!" the French president exclaimed at one point.
Macron insisted, "We don't give a damn about the separatists' proposals!" Putin, in turn, claimed the Ukrainian government was not democratically elected and had come to power in a coup. The tense call ended with Putin declaring he was about to play ice hockey, brushing off requests for a meeting with Joe Biden.
The latest revelation offers a rare glimpse into the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes diplomacy that attempted, and ultimately failed, to halt the conflict in its earlier stages.
