Europe 1 with AFP 3:25 p.m., May 05, 2022
France will increase its overall aid to Ukraine to two billion dollars against 1.7 billion so far, or an additional 300 million dollars, Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday in a video broadcast during the international donors conference.
This new contribution does not concern the military component, said the Elysee.
Paris has already provided Ukraine with 100 million euros in humanitarian aid in the first days of the invasion and enabled the delivery of more than 800 tonnes of material, including medical equipment.
It also released $1.7 billion to support Ukraine's state budget and investments.
"Every day we see the humanitarian consequences and the destruction caused by the aggression of Ukraine by Russia and suffered by the Ukrainian people accumulating. They are unbearable", declared the French president.
"It is our collective duty to provide immediate aid and massive economic support to Ukraine," he said.
Emmanuel Macron hailed "the exceptional mobilization of Ukraine's European neighbors, in particular the Polish people who have welcomed several million Ukrainians since February 24".
Other European countries also participated
"The solidarity expressed by Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moldova, is exceptional, and it is right and normal that we can collectively support them in their solidarity effort, in the same way as the direct support that we bring to Ukraine", added the French president.
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"We must be ready to assume this effort over the long term, in the context of a conflict which, unfortunately, is likely to continue and of which we have not yet seen all the dramatic consequences", concluded Emmanuel Macron, adding that "the determination and dignity of the people and the Ukrainian authorities command everyone's admiration".