French President Francois Hollande on Saturday became the first European leader to travel to Russia in an attempt to defuse the standoff with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, as Kiev announced a fresh round of peace talks next week.

Hollande's meeting with Putin in the diplomatic terminal of an airport outside the capital came as the conflict in eastern Ukraine has plunged relations between the West and Moscow to a post-Cold War low.

The threat of an attack by Islamist militants in Europe is "real" and EU countries must all remain mobilized to counter it, France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned Friday.

His remarks came amid signs that the number of jihadists leaving Europe to fight in Iraq and Syria continued to increase, raising concerns that some will return to their home countries battle hardened and ready to carry out attacks. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday warned France its reputation was on the line over the delivery of a controversial warship to Russia, which has been delayed due to the conflict in Ukraine.

His comments came as Paris warned the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers it built for Russia may never be delivered, with a lasting ceasefire in war-torn eastern Ukraine so far proving elusive.

France's defense minister said Friday troops would start gradually withdrawing from the Central African Republic as the United Nations ramps up the number of peacekeepers in the conflict-wracked nation.

"We are currently 2,000, we will be 1,500 in the spring," Jean-Yves Le Drian told the BFMTV television network.

France said Friday its fighter jets were conducting a "major" raid in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition offensive against the Islamic State group, days after members said the strikes were having effect.

"At the moment, a major raid is taking place," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFMTV, refusing to detail the targets or the number of jets involved.

French President Francois Hollande arrived in Kazakhstan Friday at the start of a two-day trip aimed at boosting trade and political ties with the emerging Central Asian country.

The French leader was due to hold talks later in the day with Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has run the country since independence in 1991.

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday slammed an "unbearable" attack on a couple by assailants who apparently targeted them because the man is Jewish, storming into their flat, raping the woman and stealing jewelry and bank cards.

Both the country's prime minister and interior minister have already blasted the brutal assault, which happened on Monday in the Paris suburb of Creteil, as "anti-Semitic."

A Frenchman who killed a young Israeli woman in a hit-and-run accident in Tel Aviv and immediately fled the country, sparking huge outrage, has been sentenced to five years in jail.

Eric Robic, who confessed to being behind the wheel at the time of the 2011 tragedy, was sentenced by a Paris court to five years behind bars while his passenger, Claude Khayat, was sentenced to 15 months late Wednesday.

The Lebanese Army Command and a French delegation are seeking to reach common ground over the protocols regarding the implementation of a $3 billion arms deal under a Saudi grant.

An Nahar newspaper reported that consecutive meetings are being held to finalize the deal ahead of December 16, pointing out that the French delegation will send the agreement to Saudi and French authorities to kick off the arming process.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday welcomed any Iranian military action against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq as "positive" after the Pentagon said Tehran had carried out air strikes against the group.

Kerry, hosting a meeting of an anti-IS coalition in Brussels, said international airstrikes were finally stopping the advance of the jihadists across Iraq and Syria, but warned it could take years to finally defeat them.