The international community meets Tuesday morning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. The conference, dubbed “Solidarity of the Ukrainian people”, is being held in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal. Representatives of 47 countries are taking part, many by videoconference, in this conference in support of Ukraine. Objective: to allow Ukrainians to resist during the winter and to think about the reconstruction of the country.
Emmanuel Macron denounced Russia’s cynical strategy
This Tuesday morning Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke. They both emphasized what is fundamental to them, the time of urgency. From the start of his speech, Emmanuel Macron denounced the cynical strategy employed by Russia. “With each victory of your country on the ground, Russia reacts cowardly with new bombardments, electricity, gas or water distribution infrastructures necessary for the survival of the population during the winter with a clear objective: to sow the terror among civilians.”
Nearly a billion euros in donations to Ukraine
The French president did not hesitate to speak of a war crime, promising that he would not go unpunished. But in the immediate future, the urgency is to support the ability of the Ukrainian people to resist, he insisted, hoping for international contributions to match the challenges at this summit. He thus announced additional French aid of 76.5 million euros in 2023. In total, nearly a billion euros in donations to help the population get through the winter will be given to the Ukraine, announced the head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna.
Of this billion euros, 415 million will be allocated to the energy sector, 25 million for water, 38 million for food, 17 million for health, 22 for transport, the rest not being still ventilated, she said.
Speaking by videoconference, Volodymyr Zelensky for his part stressed the need to expand his anti-aircraft defense to deal with attacks. He also estimated that his country needed at least 800 million euros in emergency aid to meet the needs of the population because of the damage to energy infrastructure.
France will ship 63 generators and four transformers
Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that France will organize the delivery to Ukraine of 63 large generators as well as four large transformers donated by EDF. They will be added to the 100 generators already delivered in November. To better coordinate international aid, a mechanism will be set up based on that of European civil protection. Objective: respond in real time to the needs expressed by kyiv.