In Paris, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of France Emmanuel Macron held a one-on-one meeting, followed by talks in an expanded format with their delegations.
Before the start of the negotiations, the President of Ukraine emphasized that there has never been any doubt that France stands with Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the French people and personally to Emmanuel Macron for their strong support of Ukraine and for France’s leadership in many initiatives and coalitions.
“Today, we are at a point where France, like other countries, truly wants to bring peace as close as possible. Unfortunately, we still see no signals from Russia that it wants to end the war. But I am confident that our alliance – first of all, an alliance of Europe, which has stood with us since the start of the war, and the alliance of Europe with America – will help us increase the pressure on Russia,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The President of France noted that this was already President Zelenskyy’s eighth visit to France and reaffirmed his country’s unwavering support.
During the meeting, they discussed the preparatory work on security guarantees, which was carried out by the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, chiefs of general staff, and defense ministers of the countries in the Coalition of the Willing, following the negotiations of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders with the U.S. President in Washington.
“We, Europeans, are ready to provide Ukraine with security guarantees on the day peace is established. This was stated in Washington. We have been working very intensively over the past few weeks, and I can say that Europe is ready," Emmanuel Macron emphasized.
The leaders of Ukraine and France coordinated their positions ahead of tomorrow’s Coalition of the Willing meeting. Some partners will participate in the meeting in Paris in person, while others will join online.
“I have great faith in the Coalition of the Willing, under your leadership and that of Keir Starmer, the outcome of which – I don’t know on which day this will happen, but it will certainly happen – will be security guarantees for Ukraine. This is very important: a strong Ukrainian army, security guarantees for our people, for our families. I don’t just believe in this – we are all working toward it,” the President of Ukraine added.
The discussions also touched upon defense support for Ukraine, including meeting current needs, tightening sanctions against Russia, and exploring opportunities to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine.
Special attention was paid to the negotiation process regarding Ukraine’s membership in the European Union and the importance of the joint and simultaneous advancement of Ukraine and Moldova. Emmanuel Macron stressed that Ukraine can count on France’s support in this matter.
