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KYIV, Ukraine —\u00a0Ukraine is forging ahead with embryonic plans for joint weapons production with some of its international allies, top officials said, while the U.S. announced it was\u00a0halting some arms shipments<\/a>\u00a0promised to help Ukraine fight off Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war<\/a> launched by Moscow nearly 3\u00bd years ago. A renewed Russian push<\/a> to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine\u2019s short-handed defenses under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities<\/a>. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement<\/a>, meanwhile, have stalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Washington has distanced itself under U.S. President Donald Trump from Ukraine’s war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years. Macron\u2019s office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France\u2019s \u201cunwavering support for Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity\u201d and called for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the key topics will be weapons production \u2013 our joint investments, joint projects,\u201d Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that draft legislation on joint weapons production with international allies is expected to be put to a vote in the Ukrainian parliament later this month. The proposed laws were shown to national defense companies on Tuesday, Umerov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, according to Umerov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Kyiv that Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly. He was accompanied on the trip by German defense industry representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n