Macron told France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI) in an interview from New York that Trump’s shift in stance on the issue was “very important” and offered a “new perspective” as Kyiv “needs American equipment and support”.

“This is a very clear message from the American president to say that Russia is undoubtedly weaker, more fragile than many have said,” said Macron.

This “will enable (Ukraine) to resist even more, and even retake territory”, Macron said from New York, where he is attending the annual UN General Assembly.

Trump wrote on social media after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine is in a position, with the EU’s help, to fight and win “all of Ukraine back in its original form”.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea after an operation in 2014 and now controls regions in eastern and southern Ukraine following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

After Russia was blamed for drone incursions into Nato members Poland and Romania, Macron said the alliance’s response would have to “go up a notch” in the case of “new provocations” from Moscow.

“This means that if someone provokes you again, you have to react a little more strongly,” he said, without specifying further.

But in the face of these “tests” from the Russian army, allies would “not open fire” to shoot down such objects, he emphasised.