Nicolas Tonev / Photo credit: AFP
While Russia continues to tighten its grip in Ukraine, Paris is hosting this Monday, February 26, an international meeting with around twenty European states and leaders who will be welcomed by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, to discuss unity and security.
Europe at Ukraine’s bedside this Monday. The day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeal for help, affirming that “Ukraine’s victory” depends on the European Union, an international meeting in Paris is planned for Monday, February 26. On today’s agenda: remobilize European forces and examine different means to support kyiv.
To do this, around twenty essentially European states and leaders will be received by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron this Monday at 5 p.m. and “as late as necessary”, insists the Elysée. But what does the Ukrainian population expect from Europe?
The Donbass emergency
Ravaged by fighting, the Donbass region has been a crucial point in the conflict since the start of the war in Ukraine. The desire for a lasting and urgent peace is an unequivocal request from the Ukrainians who live there: “Give weapons, whatever you want, quickly or not. But as long as this guy is there, there will be no agreement. Fire Putin! It’s between the Russian and American presidents, it’s because of them this war here,” insisted a local resident.
For these Ukrainians, the European Union would be “not the fifth, but the sixth wheel of the carriage”, believing that financial aid is not enough or no longer sufficient. Only strong and rapid military intervention seems to be favored by some. This is particularly the case for French voluntarism, which is subject to a particular expectation, according to a woman from Donbass, affirming that the soldiers of the Foreign Legion can come “to show their courage at the front”, a summary of this solitude Ukrainians against Russian troops.