Ukraine receives aid from allies. Macron and Scholz assured Zelenski of military and humanitarian support
France "will accompany" Ukraine "to victory", assured French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening, in Paris, affirming the willingness to continue supplying French arms to Ukraine, almost a year after the Russian military invasion, writes AFP. Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Paris on Wednesday evening for a dinner with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"We are with Ukraine. Firmly. And with the determination to accompany it to victory and the restoration of its legitimate rights. We will continue the effort in terms of the delivery of defense equipment," said Emmanuel Macron. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for heavy weaponry and aircraft "as soon as possible". "The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weapons, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe," Zelenskiy said at the Palace Elysée. For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured the Ukrainian president that the allies will support his country, including militarily. "We are engaged with Ukraine (...) and we have also supported Ukraine with financial aid, humanitarian aid and armaments, heavy artillery, anti-aircraft defense and, more recently, the delivery of battle tanks, and we will continue to do so as long as necessary," the German chancellor said in a press conference in Paris alongside the French and Ukrainian presidents. Volodymyr Zelensky was in London on Wednesday, where he obtained a promise from Great Britain to train Ukrainian military pilots to use Western fighter jets. From Paris, Zelenski will go to the summit of the 27 heads of state and government of the EU states, which begins its work today in Brussels. European leaders will reaffirm their support for Ukraine. According to the latest analysis by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, the Russian military has taken the initiative on the battlefield for the first time since August 2022. Russian troops have launched a major offensive in the Luhansk region, but Ukrainian forces are preventing them from achieving a significant success.
