The mayor of Paris has called on France to confiscate a priceless collection of more than 200 paintings provided by Russia as punishment for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

"When it comes to works of art belonging to the Russian state or oligarchs, the world of culture must also stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people," said Anne Hidalgo, who is standing as the Socialist Party candidate in this weekend's presidential elections.

Hidalgo said the French culture ministry should hold up the entire Morozov Collection, a popular exhibition that recently ended a six-month run at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. It includes Russian-owned works by major European and Russian artists, including Van Gogh, Picasso and Malevich.

The move comes after Finland announced it had seized more than 42 million euros worth of art that was being returned to Russia after being loaned from museums in Italy and Japan.

Despite calls from Hidalgo and others to confiscate Russian-owned works in France, a source at the Russian embassy in Paris told Bloomberg that they would be returned to Russia in the safest possible way.