US President Joe Biden has accused Russian forces of committing acts of “genocide” in Ukraine.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to “wipe out the idea” of a Ukrainian identity.
Mr Biden has previously stopped short of references to genocide, instead accusing Moscow of “war crimes”.
French President Emmanuel Macron later told French TV he was reluctant to use the term and warned against an “escalation of rhetoric”.
Speaking to the public broadcaster France 2, the French President said he would be “careful with such terms today because these two peoples are brothers.”
“I want to continue to try, as much as I can, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause,” he added.
But Mr Biden insisted on Tuesday night that evidence of genocidal acts by Russian troops was mounting.
