French President Emmanuel Macron will receive his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday at the Elysée, the day after the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, in order to discuss “Ukraine’s needs” vis-à-vis Russia, the President announced on Tuesday. French presidency. “As Russian strikes continue to intensify on the front and on energy infrastructure, the two presidents will discuss the situation on the ground as well as Ukraine’s needs”, in the “extension of the Support Conference for Ukraine which was held at the Elysée on February 26”, it is specified.
Emmanuel Macron then announced measures to provide more weapons to kyiv and did not rule out sending soldiers to Ukraine, sparking controversy among his allies as well as the anger of Russia. He promised new announcements on the occasion of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Paris on Friday, while discussions are underway on sending French military instructors to Ukraine. The project for a European coalition of instructors to train Ukrainian troops in Ukraine, desired by France, is being discussed among Europeans but appears far from being finalized, with many countries wondering about the risk of Russian reprisals.
Welcomed with military honors
Russia, which claims constant advances in recent weeks in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, said on Tuesday that it could not rule out that its forces could strike French instructors on Ukrainian soil. She also affirms that they are already present on site. The Ukrainian president, who will be welcomed by the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu with military honors on Friday morning at the Invalides, will also visit with him a site of the Franco-German arms group KNDS in Versailles, near Paris.
KNDS, one of the main European players in land weapons – it manufactures battle tanks, artillery systems as well as the Caesar cannons that France delivers to kyiv – will set up in Ukraine. This agreement follows an announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron of an initiative for local production in Ukraine of spare parts, ammunition and, eventually, complete military equipment. The Ukrainian president will also deliver a speech on Friday in the hemicycle of the National Assembly, announced the presidency of the Palais Bourbon.
Yaël Braun-Pivet will welcome the Ukrainian leader at 9:30 a.m. at the Hôtel de Lassay, then Mr. Zelensky will deliver a speech to the deputies around 9:50 a.m., before meeting with the President of the National Assembly, who had visited in Ukraine last March.